The western US is running out of water. What happens next? – Stateside with Kai and Carter

The Colorado River Basin, which supplies water to roughly 40 million people across seven states, is drying up due to pollution, overpopulation and climate change, forcing western US communities to confront difficult choices about the region's water future. Proposals to dam or divert the Yampa River—currently one of the basin's last free-flowing waterways—could provide additional water supplies but would threaten ecosystems dependent on the river's natural flow. Guardian extreme weather correspondent Gabrielle Canon recently examined the competing pressures in the region after rafting the Yampa.