‘Historically bad start’ to winter not reflected in Lake Mead projections

Winter is off to an alarmingly dry start across the Colorado River Basin, but you wouldn’t know it from the latest federal projections for Lake Mead. A monthly report by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation offers a slightly sunnier outlook for the reservoir than the agency had predicted in December, though both projections say the lake east of Las Vegas will finish the year about 5 feet lower than it is now.