It's definitely both, poor water management combined with desertification of the region. People studying water management in the American South West have long b

It's definitely both, poor water management combined with desertification of the region. People studying water management in the American South West have long been aware that there has been more water allocated than actually exists. However this is definitely compounded by climate change. To your point you can see that in last month lake Mead has been rising quite a bit[0]. Unlike lake Powell, I do not believe this rise is because of redirecting other water sources (please correct me if I am wrong). However you can see this increase is a long way from restoring, and the region is still considered under drought conditions (though less severe that it was earlier in year). 0. https://mead.uslakes.info/level.asp https://mead.uslakes.info/level.asp