Tag Archive for: Lake Mead

Opinion: Massive Lake Powell Pipeline Project Affects All Utahns, Not Just Washington County

/in , , /by /The Salt Lake Tribuneby Paul Van Dam

People generally think of the Lake Powell Pipeline as a southern Utah project, which it is. But we should not forget that the project, first conceived in 1995 and mandated by the 2006 Lake Powell Pipeline Development Act, would burden all Utahns.

Utah would bond for 50 years or more and Washington County would repay, only slowly, tying up much needed state funds at a time when the our ability to balance the budget will be challenging.

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New Front Opens in the Fight Over the Lake Powell Pipeline

/in , , /by /The Salt Lake Tribuneby Brian Maffly

The water rights behind the proposed Lake Powell pipeline are not actually coming from the project’s namesake lake, but rather from the major reservoir upstream on the Green River.

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After 30 Years and $330 Million Spent, Water Agency Shelves Las Vegas Pipeline Plan

/in , , /by /Reno Gazette Journal by Benjamin Spillman

Citing conservation gains and a third straw to the bottom of Lake Mead, the Southern Nevada Water Authority on Thursday voted to shelve a proposal for a multi-billion pipeline that would have moved water from Northern and Eastern Nevada to Las Vegas.

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Questions Simmer About Lake Powell’s Future as Drought, Climate Change Point to a Drier Colorado River Basin

/in , , /by /Water Education Foundation (Western Water)by Gary Pitzer

Sprawled across a desert expanse along the Utah-Arizona border, Lake Powell’s nearly 100-foot high bathtub ring etched on its sandstone walls belie the challenges of a major Colorado River reservoir at less than half-full. How those challenges play out as demand grows for the river’s water amid a changing climate is fueling simmering questions about Powell’s future.

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Let’s Refill Lakes Mead & Powell Now

/in , , /by /Sustainable Watersby Brian Richter Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

As of Monday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s forecast for this year’s expected water supplies in the Colorado River is at 59% of average. That’s not good news.

If that prediction proves true, this will be one of the driest water years since Lake Powell was constructed nearly 60 years ago. The volume of water stored in Lake Powell each year is affected by three primary factors: the amount of water flowing into the reservoir after ‘Upper Basin‘ water users have extracted water for their use, minus water released from the reservoir to support Lower Basin water users, and minus evaporation from the reservoir itself. Lake Powell will lose – by my estimation — about 22 feet of water this year, or about 2.1 million acre-feet of storage.

At that point, the reservoir will be 60% empty.

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Opinion: Here’s How Less than 10% of Farmland Could Solve the Colorado River’s Water Deficit

/in , , /by /Arizona Centralby Bruce Babbitt

It is no exaggeration to say that a mega-drought not seen in 500 years has descended on the seven Colorado River Basin states: Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona and California. That’s what the science shows, and that’s what the region faces.

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Megadrought ‘Unprecedented In Human History’ Likely the New Normal Across the West

/in , , /by /CBS News San Franciscoby John Blackstone

Come spring, the American West’s vast water reservoirs are supposed to fill with melting snow. However this year, as in recent years, the large reservoirs of Lake Mead and Lake Powell in the Colorado River basin have seen declining water levels — an ominous trend that a new study warns could signal a looming megadrought.

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Construction Finishes on $650 Million Water Pumping Station at Lake Mead

/in , , /by /NBC 3 News Las Vegasby Cody Miller

The Southern Nevada Water Authority, along with contractor Barnard of Nevada, Inc., announced the completion of the Low Lake Level Pumping Station after nearly five years of construction.

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West’s Biggest Reservoir Is Back on the Rise, Thanks to Conservation, Snow

/in , , /by /The Wall Street Journalby Jim Carlton

LAS VEGAS—The largest reservoir in the Western U.S., Lake Mead, is rising again after more than a decade of decline, and at least some credit goes to the local National Hockey League team.

“Reality check!” Ryan Reaves, right wing for the Vegas Golden Knights, yells as he body-slams a man through a plate-glass window for excessive lawn watering in a television commercial. “Vegas is enforcing water waste big time.”

Ads like this began airing last year as part of a campaign by the Southern Nevada Water Authority to persuade the more than two million residents of this sprawling desert metropolis to use less water. Using a carrot-and-stick approach, including paying landowners to remove grass and fining for overuse, the agency said it has cut total Colorado River water consumption by 25% over the past two decades, even as the population it serves has grown around 50%.

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Opinion: Colorado River Basin States Need to Cut Water Use

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribune

A longtime water conservation advocate says Arizona and the other Lower Colorado River Basin states need to cut their water use more and faster.

Sustainable Waters president Brian Richter says Arizona, California, and Nevada need to slash total water use by 18% from their 2000-2018 average to bring Lakes Mead and Powell into a long-term state of balance, the Arizona Daily Star reports. He says the decrease would push the river’s falling reservoirs into sustainability.

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