Lake Powell, Lake Mead Hit Record Lows Amid Colorado River Crisis
The reservoirs are nearing hydropower shutdown levels as states and federal officials clash over cuts after years of drought and overuse.
- In the past 10 days, both Lake Mead and Lake Powell recorded their lowest water levels since the reservoirs were first filled, marking a critical crisis for the Colorado River system.
- Diminishing supply and decades of overuse caused the steady decline over the past 30 years, while climate change brought the worst dry spell for the Southwest in at least 1,200 years.
- Lake Mead is now about 27% full, while Lake Powell is about 23% full, affecting the Colorado River's supply to 40 million people and more than 5 million acres of farmland.
- Negotiations between the seven states stalled, leaving U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum to oversee the federal plan; Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs criticized the Interior Department's FEIS as containing "unacceptable options."
- Water levels at Lake Powell are dropping toward the threshold where Glen Canyon Dam loses its ability to generate electricity, a point forecasts suggest could be reached as soon as winter.
19 Articles
19 Articles
Collapse of Colorado River reservoirs: A wake-up call and a flashing red light
For Star subscribers: The continued run of record low water flowing from the Colorado River into the nation's two biggest reservoirs has major ramifications for water supplies in Tucson and across the entire Southwest.
Lakes Powell and Mead Hit Record Lows Amid Western Drought
Lake Powell and Lake Mead, the two largest reservoirs in the U.S. by storage capacity, fell to record lows over the weekend, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR). Lake Powell's surface elevation measured 3,519.80 feet above sea level on Sunday, Aug. 16. Lake Mead's surface elevation measured 1,039.70 feet above sea level on Friday, Aug. 14. Lake Mead’s Friday reading was below the previous record low of 1,040.58 feet set …
Colorado River crisis threatens crops, not Wyoming’s dam plans, experts say
A federal drought plan for the Colorado River and its tributaries in Wyoming shouldn’t stop Wyoming from building a new dam and reservoir in Carbon County, two Western water experts say. The Bureau of Reclamation plan for the sweeping basin focuses on maintaining enough water in Lake Powell and Lake Mead to generate electricity and prevent degradation of critical infrastructure, professors from Utah and Arizona said last week. The 10-year framew…
The two lakes that make up the largest water reservoirs in the United States are currently at the lowest level on the bottom of the drought that affects the American West, according to data published this weekend.
Lakes Powell and Mead, the two largest water reservoirs in the United States, recorded their lowest levels on record.
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