Americans in All Seven Colorado River Basin States Believe Addressing Diminishing Colorado River Water Supplies Is a Priority

Morning Consult poll demonstrates that Americans in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming want to see both state and federal officials prioritize water security in the Colorado River Basin

WASHINGTON, July 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Walton Family Foundation, in collaboration with Morning Consult, released a poll today revealing that 86% of Americans across the seven Colorado River Basin states believe addressing drought impacts and diminishing water supplies in the Colorado River is an important challenge. The vast majority of adults in Colorado River Basin states want federal (89%) and state (91%) government officials to make addressing water security a priority.

Americans in all seven Colorado River Basin states expressed concerns about drought impacts, including increased wildfire risk (89%), threats to clean drinking water (89%), increased insurance costs (88%), reduced food supplies (89%), contamination of rivers and streams (86%) and power supply shortages due to loss of hydropower (86%).

"The decisions we make about the Colorado River now will shape life in the West for generations to come," said Moira Mcdonald, Environment Program Director at the Walton Family Foundation. "It is critical that Colorado River Basin states, the federal government and Tribal Nations collaborate on long-term investments that work with nature to make the river more resilient, conserve water and protect communities from increasingly severe fires and drought."

Americans across the seven states believe that supporting forest management, water conservation, agricultural efficiency and restoring wetlands and floodplains to protect water supplies should be a priority for government officials. All of the four approaches to protecting the Colorado River and water security are strongly supported on a bipartisan basis.

• Restoring wetlands and floodplains to protect water supplies and communities (87% support, 57% strongly support).
• Boosting municipal water conservation and water reuse (88% support, 56% strongly support).
• Increasing agricultural efficiency to reduce water use (87% support, 56% strongly support).
• Improving forest management to limit damage from wildfires (87% support, 55% strongly support).

Americans throughout the Colorado River Basin support a range of solutions to protect the river and the communities that depend on it.

• Reducing wildfire, flood and drought impacts that threaten water supplies (90% top or important priority).
• Investing in water infrastructure and resilience strategies that maintain healthy forests, rivers and streams, and modernize water delivery systems to improve long-term water reliability (89% top or important priority).
• Preventing critically low water levels and power supply risks in reservoirs (88% top or important priority).
• Helping farmers and ranchers adapt to hotter and drier conditions while maintaining food production (88% top or important priority).
• Protecting rivers, fish, wildlife habitat and outdoor recreation opportunities (86% top or important priority).

A full breakdown of the poll, along with individual results from respondents in Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming is available here.

Polling Methodology
The Walton Family Foundation sponsored this multi-state project. The poll was conducted by Morning Consult between June 12-19, 2026, among a sample of 2,474 registered voters across seven states. The interviews were conducted online and data was weighted to approximate a target sample of adults based on age, gender, race/ethnicity, education and party identification within each state. Survey results are provided for educational and informational purposes only. They are not intended to, and do not, support or oppose any candidate for political office, political party, election outcome, ballot measure, or specific legislation.

About the Walton Family Foundation
The Walton Family Foundation is, at its core, a family-led foundation. Three generations of the descendants of our founders, Sam and Helen Walton, and their spouses work together to lead the foundation and create access to opportunity for people and communities. We work in three areas: improving education, protecting rivers and oceans and the communities they support and investing in our home region of Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas-Mississippi Delta. To learn more, visit waltonfamilyfoundation.org and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and X.

SOURCE Walton Family Foundation