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 steady decline over 30 years, while climate change brought the worst Southwest dry spell in at least 1,200 years.
- Lake Mead is now about 27% full while Lake Powell is about 23% full, yet the Colorado River provides water for 40 million people and more than 5 million acres of farmland.
- Negotiations between the seven states stalled, leaving oversight to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, while Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs criticized the Interior Department's plan, calling options "unacceptable."
- Water levels at Lake Powell are dropping toward the threshold where Glen Canyon Dam loses electricity generation capacity, a point forecasts suggest could occur as soon as winter depending on precipitation.
17 Articles
17 Articles
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.
In the west of the US, the water level in the country's two largest reservoirs has fallen to a historic low, according to the authorities.
Powell and Mead Lakes reach historically low levels, threatening water supply and electricity generation in the U.S. West The two largest lakes
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