MILLIONS of Americans are being warned they could face future water shortages and even power problems as a vital system edges closer to breaking point.

Experts say the country’s water crisis has reached a new milestone after two huge reservoirs plunged to their lowest combined levels in decades.

The drop has since been raising fears over supplies for homes, farms and electricity generation.

The warning centers on Lake Powell and Lake Mead, the two giant reservoirs fed by the Colorado River.

Together, they provide water for around 40 million people, irrigate more than 5 million acres of farmland and generate enough power for 700,000 homes across several states.

But both are running dangerously low after years of drought, soaring demand and increasingly hot, dry weather, CNN reported.

Experts say the lakes have now dropped to their lowest combined level since 1957 – before Lake Powell had even been filled.

Jack Schmidt, director of the Center for Colorado River Studies at Utah State University, called it “a milestone in the history of water storage in the Colorado River Basin.”

He said the figures show “the seriousness of the uniquely small amount of water that is presently stored in the basin’s reservoirs.”

The crisis has been made even worse by one of the driest and warmest winters on record in western US, leaving too little mountain snow to top up the reservoirs as it melts.

Lake Powell is now just 23% full and could hit another record low as early as next month if current trends continue.

Lake Mead is 27% full and sits less than a foot above its all-time low.

Experts warn the decline could eventually affect both water supplies and electricity generation if levels continue to fall.

Researchers believe the two reservoirs will continue setting new record lows almost every day until next spring, when melting snow would normally begin replenishing water levels.

There are growing fears Lake Powell could fall so far by spring 2027 that the Glen Canyon Dam would no longer be able to generate hydroelectric power.

Sarah Porter, director of the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University, warned: “The low reservoir levels are a dramatic signal that the system is at risk of crashing, meaning reservoir levels so low that water cannot be delivered from them.”

The worsening crisis is also piling pressure on seven western states still trying to agree how to share the shrinking Colorado River after a February deadline for a deal passed without an agreement.

While forecasters say El Niño could bring more rain and snow later this year, experts warn that alone is unlikely to solve the long-term problem.

Porter said: “Even record snowpack this winter will not be enough to get us out of the danger zone.”

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