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Historic low lake levels at Lake Mead’s Echo Bay in Southern Nevada.

The clock is ticking for the seven Colorado River Basin states to come up with a plan to dramatically reduce their water usage.

Federal officials have given the states a deadline of mid-August to agree to a deal to cut their use by 2 million to 4 million acre-feet; if they don’t, the federal government could step in and take action.

To get a sense of how the states are doing as the deadline approaches, The Show spoke with Luke Runyon, managing editor and reporter for the Colorado River Reporting Project at KUNC.

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