Brad Udall, a water and climate research scientist at Colorado State University, suggested that paying users to exit the system remains a necessary strategy to recharge the depleted reservoirs.
"There are too many straws in the glass," Udall said.
"Rather than having an annual fight over who gets what, let's remove some straws … One way to do that is the American way – let's buy 'em out."
"You see climate change impacts across the globe, like big floods, hurricanes – but people pick up the pieces and kind of go back to the way they were living before," Udall said.
"But here, because the flows are so low, we're going to have to start buying out or cutting off water users, and the rules we have are completely inadequate to the task."
>>> Netflix Casts Colin Woodell as Lead in Harlan Coben's Myron Bolitar Series
While extreme predictions raise concerns that the reservoir could hit a "deadpool" status where gravity can no longer carry water downstream, Schmidt stated such a catastrophe is unlikely due to potential intervention from authorities.
