The Colorado River could be facing its first tier 2 water shortage.

The western United States is in the midst of a massive drought, and it seems to be steadily growing worse as time passes. As local major water sources like the Colorado River, Lake Mead, and Lake Powell continue to be drawn upon despite the lack of fresh rain and snowfall due to rising temperatures, the entire west coast could be facing a water shortage at a previously unseen scale.

Last year, the United States Department of Interior declared a tier 1 water shortage in the Colorado River. Tier 1 shortages have happened in the past, but unlike in previous years, the river did not sufficiently refill in the intervening time. If the river is still drawn upon at its current rate with no substantial increases, it could lead to the very first tier 2 water shortage for the area.

“We thought we were good, but the last few years have been so dry that we realized those tier reductions weren’t enough and aren’t enough,” Bill Hasencamp, the Colorado River resources manager with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, told CNN. “So the two things we’re focused on is how do we get through the next three years without the system crashing, and then how do we develop a long term plan to sustain the Colorado River.”

Mandatory water usage cuts have already been enacted, but even with reduced usage, there simply isn’t enough water to go around for the entire west coast, necessitating lengthy negotiations between governing powers.

“Frankly, I’m frustrated because the overwhelming sense I’ve gotten from the negotiations is there aren’t enough people taking this seriously enough and understanding this is about adapting to less water in this river,” John Entsminger, the general manager for the Southern Nevada Water Authority, told CNN.

“It doesn’t matter what can be agreed to because there’s only so much water, and mother nature will figure this out at some point,” he said. “At some point, there’s just not water in the river channel.”