Tag Archive for: Lake Mead

Feds Propose Cuts to California, Other States’ Water Supply From Colorado River

/in , , /by /Times of San Diegoby Elizabeth Ireland

Southern California and the state as a whole could see dramatic reductions in allocations of Colorado River water under proposals released Tuesday by the federal government aimed at protecting a system that provides water to 40 million people in multiple states along with critical agricultural irrigation.

The river also provides hydroelectric power to millions of customers, generated by dams at Lake Mead and Lake Powell.

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US Floats Options to Reduce Water Pulled From Colorado River

/in , /by /AP Newsby Ken Ritter and Suman Naishadham

The Biden administration released an environmental analysis Tuesday that outlined two ways that seven Western states and tribes reliant on the overtapped Colorado River could cut their use, but declined to publicly take a side on the best option.

One option would be more beneficial to California and some tribes along the river that have high-priority rights to the river’s water.

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Opinion: Is the San Diego-Imperial Model Part of the Solution for Colorado River Woes?

/in , , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Michael Smolens Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

In a sense, the record string of storms that hit California created two lakes — one real and one hypothetical.

The deluges re-established Tulare Lake, once the largest lake west of the Mississippi River that was drained long ago for agriculture and municipal water demands.

Meanwhile, the state’s record snowpack, according to the Los Angeles Times, holds enough water to fill the depleted Lake Mead on the Colorado River. Of course, that’s not where the runoff goes.

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Drought-Ravaged Colorado River Gets Relief From Snow. But Long-Term Water Crisis Remains

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ian James

Four months ago, the outlook for the Colorado River was so dire that federal projections showed imminent risks of reservoirs dropping to dangerously low levels.

But after this winter’s major storms, the river’s depleted reservoirs are set to rise substantially with runoff from the largest snowpack in the watershed since 1997.

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Wet Winter Improves Colorado River Forecast; Big Cuts Still Coming

/in , , /by /Las Vegas Review-Journal by Colton Lochhead

An already wet winter in the mountains that feed the Colorado River got even better in March, providing a significant boost to the amount of water that forecasters expect to flow downstream into Lake Powell this summer.

The latest prediction from the National Weather Service’s Colorado Basin River Forecast Center shows that the river will swell to 177 percent of its average volume during the all-important April-through-July period as the snow melts and flows into the river and its tributaries.

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Science Tackles the West’s Megadrought

/in , , /by /Yale Climate Connectionsby Tanya Petach & Emilio Mateo

Taps ran dry in Rio Verde on New Year’s Day.

Water had to be trucked in for household use in the affluent suburb outside Scottsdale, Arizona. The approximately 1,000 residents of the large, suburban stucco homes of Rio Verde were forced to take shorter showers and eat from paper plates.

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Tribe, US Officials Reach Deal to Save Colorado River Water

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Ken Ritter & Terry Tang

A Native American tribe in Arizona reached a deal Thursday with the U.S. government not to use some of its Colorado River water rights in return for $150 million and funding for a pipeline project.

The $233 million pact with the Gila River Indian Community, announced in Phoenix, was hailed as an example of the kind of cooperation needed to rescue a river crucial to a massive agricultural industry and essential to more than 40 million people in seven Western U.S. states and Mexico. Officials termed it “compensated conservation.”

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Feds Give Millions to Desert Water Projects, Warn a Wet Year is Not Enough

/in , , /by /Desert Sunby Janet Wilson

Water districts serving the California desert will receive nearly $18 million in federal infrastructure funds, officials announced this week, including for Imperial County’s first major reservoir and critical repairs to the aging All-American Canal.

The grants and loans come days before a likely federal announcement on possible cuts or other changes to Colorado River allocations through 2026 across seven Western states.

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Snowpack Peaks at 160% of Normal as Colorado River Water Flows Toward Lake Mead

/in , /by /8 News Now (KLAS-TV)by Greg Haas

It’s snowing today in the central Colorado Rockies, likely the last hurrah for a year to remember for everyone who depends on water from the Colorado River — including Las Vegas.

It’s just past the early April peak when scientists calculate the final snowpack levels for the year. Today, that measurement hit 160% of normal, just above where it was a week ago.

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Lake Mead Water Levels Due to Hit Record Low Within Weeks

/in , , /by /Newsweekby Jess Thomson

Despite recent water levels exceeding expectations, Lake Mead is forecast to drop back down to a record low level by the end of the month.

As of Monday, Lake Mead’s water level was at 1,045.91 feet above sea level, almost 3 feet above the level of 1,043.06 feet predicted in the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s “Most Probable 24-Month Study,” released at the start of March.

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