Lake Mead Archives

Slo County Had Driest January and February in More Than 150 Years — Is This the ‘New Normal’?

March 1, 2022/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /The Tribuneby John Lindsey Mentioned: https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/weather/weather-watch/article258890608.html

After reviewing 153 years of rainfall records from Cal Poly’s Irrigation Training & Research Center, there has never been a back-to-back dry January followed by a parched February in San Luis Obispo County. Over the many decades of rain data, if you saw a primarily dry January, it would be followed by a wet February and vice versa during the peak of our rainy season (July 1 through June 30).

Climate Change, Drought Are Endangering Hydropower Production From Lake Powell. Is It Time to ‘Balance the Water Budget’?

February 23, 2022/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /The Salt Lake Tribuneby Zach Podmore

The water level in Lake Powell was at a record low when rain and snow began to fall across the Colorado River Basin in October, soaking dry soils ahead of the winter season.

Water managers, who hoped the trend would build into an above-average snow year that might delay a looming water crisis in the Southwest, watched the snowpack drop to near zero in November. Then, after a massive storm cycle brought six feet of snow to parts of the Rockies around the New Year, they again breathed a sigh of relief.

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Recycling Los Angeles’ Water: We Help Them, They Help Us

February 3, 2022/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /KSNV-TVby Jeff Gillan

A few hundred miles away from Las Vegas, what’s happening at a prototype wastewater purification plant in Southern California may increase our water supply here.

“We are designing the project to ultimately connect to what will likely be two of our water drinking facilities,” says Deven Upadhyay, the Chief Operating Officer and Assistant General Manager at the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, that region’s equivalent to our Southern Nevada Water Authority. The Metropolitan Water District is the wholesale water provider to 26 California member agencies that service 19 million people.

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Dry January Portends More Drought Ahead for Northern Arizona

February 3, 2022/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /Arizona Daily Sunby Sean Golightly

“Dry January” usually means abstinence from alcohol following the excesses of the holiday season, but this year it took on another meaning as well.

While December storms brought more than double the normal level of precipitation, January saw Arizona and other Western states return to drought conditions.

According to a Jan. 21 report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the overall area of the West in drought has increased from 77% to 88%. Despite this general increase, the percentage of areas experiencing exceptional drought dropped from 22% to 3%.

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Lower Basin States Unveil New Water Plan to Bolster Levels in Lake Mead

January 28, 2022/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /Aspen Public Radioby Halle Zander

Lake Mead in southern Nevada saw extremely low levels of water in 2021.

And so the lower basin states of California, Nevada, and Arizona developed a plan to address the diminishing inflow from the Colorado River.

It’s called the “500-plus plan.”

The title refers to the goal of saving 500,000 acre feet of water per year in Lake Mead.

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Dropping Reservoirs Create ‘Green Light’ for Sustainability on Colorado River

January 18, 2022/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /The Aspen Timesby Heather Sackett

Some Colorado River scholars say that a plan by the lower-basin states to leave more water in Lake Mead embodies a principle they explore in a recently published article: Dropping reservoir levels have opened a window of opportunity for water-management policies that move the river system toward sustainability.

In December, water managers from California, Nevada and Arizona signed a memorandum of understanding, or MOU, to spend up to $200 million to add 500,000 acre-feet of water in both 2022 and 2023 to Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir, which has dropped precipitously low due to climate change and drought.

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Phoenix Among Those Voluntarily Losing Colorado River Water

January 10, 2022/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /AP Newsby Felicia Fonseca

The city of Phoenix this week outlined how it will voluntarily contribute water to a regional plan to shore up the country’s largest reservoir that delivers Colorado River water to three states and Mexico.

The river cannot provide seven Western states the water they were promised a century ago because of less snow, warmer temperatures and water lost to evaporation. Water managers repeatedly have had to pivot to develop plans to sustain it for the long-term.

Phoenix, the nation’s fifth-largest city, is among entities in the river’s lower basin that are part of the “500+ Plan” meant to delay further mandatory shortages. All pieces of the plan haven’t been finalized, but farmers and Native American tribes are expected to play a big role.

The Colorado River serves more than 40 million people in Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, California, Wyoming, Utah and Mexico. Lake Mead and Lake Powell store the water and are used to gauge the river’s health.

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Higher Rates for LADWP’s Biggest Water Users Are Now in Effect

January 6, 2022/in Home Headline, Media Coverage, San Diego County /by Gayle Falkenthal /Spectrum News 1by Susan Carpenter

Water-hogging customers in the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power service area will see higher bills this year.

Effective Jan. 1, LADWP began charging its heaviest water users as much as $3.60 more for every 748 gallons they take from their taps. Water bills for customers who use lower amounts will stay roughly the same as last year.

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More Water Cuts AZ, NV, CA Try to Keep Lake Mead Levels Up

January 5, 2022/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Gayle Falkenthal /ABC 15 Arizonaby Courtney Holmes

Arizona, California, and Nevada have agreed to further reduce their usage of Colorado River water over the next two years as the states figure out ways to prevent critically low water levels in Lake Mead.

The river accounts for 40% of Arizona’s water supply.

The states were already preparing for mandatory water cuts in 2022 resulting from the Tier 1 shortage federal declaration.

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Climate Change Makes Projecting Lake Mead and Colorado River Levels Tricky

December 30, 2021/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Gayle Falkenthal /Spectrum News 1by Sarah Pilla

There’s a white line known as the bathtub ring around Lake Mead. It’s a constant reminder for Boating Lake Mead’s Director of Operations, Bruce Nelson. The lake is at a historically low 1,067-feet above sea level, affecting boat launch ramps and customers.

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