Here's why Lake Mead's water levels are RISING again
COLORADO: Owing to steadily dropping water levels, there were concerns that Lake Mead, the biggest reservoir in the United States, will dry up in a few years. Many residents in the region are dependent on the reservoir created by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, which spans Nevada and Arizona. Because of the drought in western United States, Lake Mead has been rapidly approaching the dead water threshold.
However, for the first time in the past three years, the lake's water levels have increased. Its water levels were at their minimum on July 27 (1,040.71ft). The last time its levels were that low was in the 1930s, a period shortly after its creation. The subsequent rains in Las Vegas Valley were the heaviest in 10 years, and it impacted the region hard.
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The Las Vegas Review-Journal said that from July 27, it rained every day. The lake has risen by 18 inches as of August 15, when its levels reached 1,042.29ft. In only 10 minutes, some places received over a half-an-inch of rain, the report said. The rainfall would either sink into the earth or flow down the Las Vegas Wash into Lake Mead, according to Southern Nevada Water Authority spokesperson Bronson Mack.
Due to the megadrought sweeping western United States, Lake Mead has been drying up. The water levels have decreased by 170ft since 2000 when the drought first started. The quantity of rain was not the sole element affecting Lake Mead's water levels. Due to the snow cover cascading down from the Rocky Mountains, the levels would typically vary depending on the season. However, seasonal weather rhythms are becoming difficult to anticipate as a result of climate change. Despite the recent surge in water levels, the lake is only about 27 per cent full.
Water policy and law expert Robert Glennon told Newsweek, "[Lake Mead] is all about storage [...] and it's about the seasonality of precipitation. And snow. So what happens is that while people think the lake is where [the] West stores its water, in fact, the much bigger, important storage place is the mountains and snowpack."
It is possible that the dam's turbines won't be able to produce electricity if the lake's water level keeps dropping. If the water level falls below 895ft and the water cannot pass the barrier, the turbines will stop functioning.
"Canyons in the West all are pretty much in the same shape. They're very wide at the top and very narrow at the bottom. Think martini glass or the letter V. And right now, both reservoirs are way down in the V going down to the bottom of the glass. So, each foot of elevation has less water in it. I don't think people really understood how quickly it could start to drop once it got down to the bottom of the glass," Glennon concluded.