These are recent satellite images of lake mead, the one of the largest reservoirs in
the United States.
The water level in Lake Mead has been declining for years and has dropped a record 160 feet
since these satellite images were taken 20 years ago.
The problem has been caused by a prolonged drought in the southwestern United States,
causing the reservoir to stand at just 27% of its total capacity.
This has created an array of different problems affecting many different industries.
But now the question remains if Lake Mead can actually be saved, and how its current
status will impact this region of the United States.
To answer this, we first need to understand just how important Lake mead is to the states
in the southwestern part of America.
Currently, Lake Mead supplies water to California, Arizona, and Nevada.
California is the largest consumer of lake mead’s water mainly due to its large population
and agricultural industries.
In all, lake mead supports more than 25 million residents across this region of America.
In addition to supplying these southwestern states with water, Lake Mead is also centered
in between both the Hoover Dam and the Colorado river.
THerefore, the water from the colorado river flows into lake mead as a holding reservoir
until it reaches the hoover dam.
The colorado river contributes close to 97% of the floor of lake mead.
Throughout the past 20 years, The Hoover dam has dropped from being more than 1200 feet
above sea level, to today being just over 1 thousand 40 feet above.
If this level continues to drop below 1 thousand feet, it would affect the dam's ability to
operate its hydropower turbines.
As the Hoover Dam’s ability to produce electricity is heavily dependent on the water levels of
lake mead, the power output of its generators have been reduced by 33% in the past year.
More than 1.3 Million people rely on the Hoover dam for electricity, and this decrease in
production will cause an array of problems for this entire region.
While this is just one of many major problems these water shortages are causing, one of
the most complex issues is the rights to the water in Lake Mead.
The fight between who gets the water from lake mead
Each of these states in the southwest region have rights to use the water in lake mead.
California currently holds 58.4% of the water rights to lake mead and the colorado river.
Arizona controls 38%, and Nevada controls the least being just above 3%.
Since these 3 states control the rights to the water, there has been disagreement in
this time where the water levels are dropping to extreme levels.
Therefore, water cuts will be put in place with a goal of preventing lake mead from reaching
deadpool status.
The Federal Bureau of Reclamation is asking states to conserve 2 to 4 million acre feet
of water, just to keep lake mead and lake powell out of critically low territory going
into 2023.
And this has come at the expense of the states in this region.
California has the largest population in America, and cannot afford to take a massive water
cut.
States such as Arizona are also not in line with cutting such a large amount of water
consumption, as nearly 74% of the state’s water goes towards the agricultural industry.
While Arizona and Nevada are cutting back their consumption, California has barely cut
back at all, stating that they have the most rights to this water and should not have to
cut back as much as states such as Arizona and Nevada.
But all this has caused disagreement as to why certain states are cutting more of their
water consumption than others.
Nevertheless, many have stated that California will be forced to cut back their consumption
as well in order to meet the water conservation goals set by the Federal Bureau of Reclamation.
As we can see, lake mead is much more than just a water supply reservoir.
Its impact one electricity generation in the Hoover dam is also causing many problems in
various different industries.
Therefore, is it possible for lake mead to be saved, and can its decline actually be
reversed.
To understand if lake mead can be saved, we need to take a look at the historical data
of this reservoir.
Lake Mead has been declining for years, and has dropped by more than 100 feet in just
the past 20 years.
Additionally, the ongoing droughts in the southwest are only worsening causing the water
levels to drop even lower.
Satellite imagery between 2021 and 2022 shows just how much of this water has been lost
in just 1 years time.
Although the reservoir has been steadily declining, the US Bureau of Reclamation announced two
separate projects with a goal of replenishing lake mead.
The first of which is the releasing of volume from the Flaming Gorge Reservoir into Glen
Canyon Dam.
This will increase the water level at the dam, allowing more to be released into the
colorado river which goes downstream to lake mead.
THe plan aims to add nearly 1 million acre feet of water to Lake Powell over the next
12 months.
While this is just of the efforts to replenish lake mead, its full effect has yet to be fully
understood; the plan was just announced in July of 2022.
Additionally, water cuts from both the colorado river and lake mead have become more widespread
throughout the past few years, with a goal of conserving as much water as possible.
Officials have stated that they are monitoring the current water forecast levels for lake
mead, and will use them to determine cuts for 2023.
Currently, the US bureau of reclamation has stated that Lake Mead stands at a tier 1 shortage,
being around 1 thousand 50 feet of elevation.
This is just at the criteria of becoming a tier 2 shortage, which would cause an array
of different problems for the states such as California, Arizona and Nevada.
If the forecast for the resoi wart drops below 1 thousand 45 feet, all of the southwestern
states would be forced to cut its consumption from both the colorado river and lake mead.
Experts from the Bureau have predicted that lake mead will reach a tier 2 level by 2023,
and a tier 3 level possibly in 2024.
While the current state of lake mead is dire, a tier 3 water shortage is something that
could have extreme consequences for this region.
These water cuts could extend beyond agricultural industries, and affect household and industrial
water usage.
While all of these paint a dire picture for the next few years of lake mead, we need to
note that these studies are based on historical data and have been revised multiple times.
Therefore, it is very hard to predict the exact state of lake mead in 2 to 3 years.
As the droughts throughout the southwestern part of America continue, the water consumption
in this region is poised to increase.
While the federal government and the US Bureau of Reclamation have proposed a number of plans
and initiatives to try and save lake mead, it's unclear if these bold plans are even
remotely possible.
Will limiting water consumption in this region allow lake mead to replenish its water supplies?
Will the water from Lake Powell be able to keep up with Lake Mead’s rapidly deteriorating
conditions?
And the biggest question of them all, can lake mead’s decline actually be reversed.
Many questions remain unanswered, and Therefore, only time will tell what the future of Lake
Mead really turns out to be.
While many states in the southwestern part of America rely on Lake Mead, California’s
water distribution network is unlike any other state and is one of the most complex in the
world.
To learn more about California's ongoing water problems, be sure to check out the video here.
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