US Reviews Ideas For Boosting West's Water Supply

DENVER (AP) -- Demand for water in the Colorado River basin is expected to overwhelm supply in the next 50 years as the West grows. So the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation asked the public what to do about it.

It got more than 140 ideas, including towing an iceberg to California and capturing what melts and diverting water from the Mississippi River.

The bureau won't single out any options to pursue, but it is reviewing the suggestions as part of its larger study of water supply and demand in the arid basin.

More than 30 million people in Arizona, California, Nevada, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico get drinking water from the Colorado River system, which also benefits about 6 million Mexicans.

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