Lake Mead, the reservoir formed by Hoover Dam and supplier of water to California, Nevada, and Arizona, is at its lowest level ever, according to NewScientist (9 May 2015, paywall):
“We’re only at 38 per cent full. Lake Mead hasn’t been this low since we were filling it in the 1930s,” said a spokeswoman for the US Bureau of Reclamation in Las Vegas.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal contributes this:
Lake Mead is expected to shrink low enough by January 2017 to trigger a first-ever federal shortage declaration on the Colorado River, according to a bleak new projection from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.In its monthly forecast issued this week, the bureau predicts the reservoir east of Las Vegas could start 2017 as much as 15 feet below the shortage line of 1,075 feet above sea level.
The white ring in the above picture indicates the normal level of the reservoir. The Review-Journal continues,
Already in record-low territory, the lake surface is now expected to drop another 4 feet by the end of June, to 1,073 feet above sea level. After that, forecasters expect the water to gradually rise again, to elevation 1,077 by January 2016, before plunging roughly 22 feet in six months to a new all-time low of 1,055.
Should the lake hit 1,050, the Southern Nevada Water Authority will lose the use of one of its two existing intake pipes, though that will be less of a concern after September, when a new $817 million intake should start drawing water from the deepest part of the lake.
On paper, Hoover Dam is also supposed to stop generating electricity. However, that minimum generation level is expected to be revised downward, to 950 feet above sea level, because of ongoing power turbine improvements.
If you prefer your view of slow-motion disasters in the form of graphs, arachnoid.com has this:
Interesting hiccup in 2012. The Brookings Institute has a video interview with Pat Mulroy, who served as general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA).
And I just wouldn’t invest in these guys.
