Tag Archive for: Lake Mead

Lake Powell Water Levels Hit a Record Low and Continue to Decline

/in , , /by /AZ Centralby Lindsey Botts

Water levels at Lake Powell have dropped to their lowest level since the huge reservoir was filled more than 50 years ago, another sign of the ongoing drought’s toll on the Colorado River. The reservoir fell to 3,555.09 feet above sea level Friday and continued to drop through the weekend, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. As of late Sunday, water levels stood at 3,554.72 feet. The previous low mark, set in 2005, was 3,555.10 feet. Friday’s low water mark comes barely a month after Lake Mead, the largest reservoir on the river, reached a record low. Federal officials are expected next month to declare a water shortage on the Colorado River, triggering cutbacks next year in Arizona and Nevada.

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Lake Mead Drops to a Record Low Amid Drought

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Times

Lake Mead is a water lifeline for Southern California and much of the west, but now it’s facing its first water shortage in its 85-year history.

The lake along the Nevada-Arizona border is one of the largest engineered lakes in the world, and it’s drying up at an alarming rate.

L.A. Times national correspondent Jaweed Kaleem talked about what this means for millions of people and millions of acres of farmland across the west.

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Water Conservation Helps San Diego Regional Supply During Drought

/in , , /by /Water News Networkby Mike Uhrhammer / Helix Water District Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Water conservation is a way of life in the San Diego region, whether during drought periods or wet years. While the region is in drought like much of the Southwest U.S., San Diego County is not experiencing a water shortage. That’s because the Helix Water District, and the other water utilities serving the region, have worked together for 25 years to conserve water and invest in new water resources.

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Opinion: Will the Drought Contingency Plan Be Enough to Save Lake Mead? Maybe – For Now

/in , , /by / AZ Centralby Bruce Babbit

Lake Mead is disappearing. It has already fallen more than 146 feet since 2000.

Last week the Bureau of Reclamation forecast that it will likely drop another 42 feet in the next five years, drawing the lake surface down to a level barely sufficient to generate power and release water for downstream water users in California and Arizona.

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The Western Drought is Worse Than You Think. Here’s Why

/in , , /by /E&E Newsby Thomas Frank

It has lasted longer than the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. It’s dropped water levels perilously low at two of the nation’s largest reservoirs, forced ranchers to sell off herds and helped propel scorching wildfires. And worst of all, the drought blanketing the western United States is not going away. A group of experts featuring federal and state officials and farmers and ranchers spent nearly three hours yesterday chronicling the devastation caused by drought conditions that now cover almost every inch of seven Western states. Half of the U.S. population lives in a drought-stricken area.

 

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Opinion: We Are Just 5 Feet Away From the Possibility of Deeper Water Cuts to Save Lake Mead

/in , /by /Arizona Republic by Joanna Allhands

This is escalating quickly.

The July 24-month study for the Colorado River reservoir system is skirting dangerously close to what might be considered a doomsday provision within the Drought Contingency Plan.

If Lake Mead is projected to fall below 1,030 feet any time within two years, the plan states, Arizona, California and Nevada must reconvene to decide what additional steps they will take to keep Mead from falling below 1,020 feet – an elevation that many consider the crash point. The next milestone below that is “dead pool,” where no water leaves the lake.

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At Shrinking Lake Mead, a New Coalition says Status Quo on Colorado River is Failing

/in , , /by /Arizona Republic by Ian James and Anton L. Delgado

With the concrete towers of Hoover Dam in the background and the depleted waters of the nation’s largest reservoir below, an unlikely group of allies — conservation activists, businesspeople and officials representing cities and farming communities — on Thursday called for halting all plans that would take more water from the shrinking Colorado River.

The 10 people who spoke at the news conference said they’re part of a new coalition demanding a moratorium on new dams and proposed pipelines, including a proposal to transport Colorado River water to sustain urban growth in Utah.

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Coalition Urges Protection for Shrinking Colorado River

/in , , /by /Las Vegas Review-Journal by Blake Apgar

A group that included environmentalists, elected leaders and officials from business and agriculture gathered Thursday morning to put forth a slate of demands for a new approach to managing the Colorado River.

“We’re here to say, ‘Damn the status quo. No more business as usual,’ ” Kyle Roerink, executive director of the Great Basin Water Network, said from a makeshift lectern in a parking lot just above the Hoover Dam.

Management of the river, which feeds Lake Mead and serves 40 million people in seven states and Mexico, has failed and the approach must be revised, Roerink said.

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Why California Should be Preparing for Floods, Even in the Midst of Drought

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Stuart Leavenworth

The explorer John Wesley Powell once poked fun at the professional rainmakers of his time, writing, “Years of drought and famine come and years of flood and famine come, and the climate is not changed with dance, libation or prayer.”

As we now know, humans can change the climate — one reason the current drought is so intense, sparking what could be a record wildfire season and depleting mighty reservoirs such as Mead and Oroville.

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The Colorado River is Drying Up Faster Than Federal Officials Can Keep Track. Mandatory Water Cuts are Looming

/in , , /by /The Colorado Sunby Michael Booth

Ablunt new report based on June runoff conditions from the Colorado River into Lake Powell and Lake Mead shows the reservoirs fast deteriorating toward “dead pool” status, where stored water is so low it can’t spin the massive hydroelectric power generators buried in the dams, and large swaths of Arizona farmland going fallow.

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