(Ross D. Franklin | AP file photo) Visitors view the dramatic bend in the Colorado River at the popular Horseshoe Bend in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, in Page, Ariz., on Sept. 9, 2011. Some 40 million people in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming draw from the Colorado River and its tributaries. Much of that originates as snow. A wet winter likely will fend off mandated water shortages for states in the U.S. West that rely on the river but won't erase the impact of climate change. Climate change means the region is still getting drier and hotter.