Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Waters from the Colorado River have not reached its delta in the Gulf of California for more than 50 years because nearly every drop is being consumed as the waters flow south, Brian Richter, president of Sustainable Waters, a global water education service, senior freshwater fellow at the World Wildlife Fund, told ABC News.
Irrigation for agriculture was responsible for 74% of direct human usage and 52% of overall water consumption, the report found. than in the year 2000 and is expected to drop to 30% by 2050 if temperatures continue to rise, scientists say. Lake Mead and Lake Powell -- the largest reservoirs in the country that provides water to 40 million people in the U.S. and Mexico -- have both dropped by 160 to 180 feet over the last two decades, Richter said,