Lake Mead water crisis: “We’re kind of on a knife’s edge between being OK and being in very scary, catastrophic situations”
The largest reservoir in the US is under threat again, with low runoff and rising temperatures raising the risk of supply cuts and hydropower failure.
Lake Mead is the largest reservoir in the US, with a capacity to hold 28.23 million acre-feet of water, around 14 million Olympic swimming pools. Created by the iconic Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, Lake Mead is located in Nevada and Arizona and provides water to those states as well as California and parts of Mexico.
Lake Mead has been well below full capacity since the early 80s, and suffered a major crisis in 2022, when it dropped to just 25% of capacity. After the implementation of water conservation measures water levels had recovered somewhat by the end of last year, rising some 16 feet from the all time low.
Crisis hits Lake Mead again
A warning has been issued for Lake Mead, due to persistent dry conditions and a lack of runoff from winter snowpack that has seen a major reduction in the Colorado River’s flow, leading to advocates warning the low water levels could affect municipal water supplies, irrigation for agriculture and hydroelectric power generation. In addition to the Hoover Dam itself, two major hydropower dams lie downstream of Lake Mead: Davis Dam and Parker Dam.
Lake Mead crisis: “We’re on a knife’s edge”
John Berggren, a regional policy manager for the nonprofit group Western Resource Advocates, spoke to the Los Angeles Times and warned of the situation. “We’re kind of on a knife’s edge between being OK and being in very scary, catastrophic situation,” he said, explaining that “increasing temperatures in recent decades are having a real impact on runoff. ”It’s something that, unfortunately, we’re going to see more and more of, where you need well above average snowpack to come somewhere close to average runoff because of the warming temperatures.”
With summer now coming, water levels in Lake Mead are only likely to reduce, leading to severe strain on the Colorado river system.
Lake Mead as a dead pool
If the water level in Lake Mead were to drop below 895 feet it would hit dead pool - the point at which there is not enough water to flow through the dam. That would halt hydropower production for 1.3 million people and sever water access for the 40 million people who rely on the Colorado River.
Currently, the water level stands at 1,063 feet, around 170 feet above dead pool. Since 2000, it has dropped by more than 170 feet — and because of the lake’s V-shaped profile, each foot of height lost near the bottom represents a smaller volume of water than near the top. That means the water level drops more quickly as the lake gets closer to empty.
What can be done?
Beyond continued negotiations over water use in the Colorado River Basin, wastewater recycling is one potential solution. A study by UCLA and the Natural Resources Defense Council found that increasing wastewater recycling to 40% could provide enough water for two million households, significantly easing pressure on Lake Mead.
But experts agree: without sustained conservation and serious long-term reform, Lake Mead’s future remains in jeopardy.
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