Lake Mead has been slowly rising now at 1,046.3 feet and is now about 5.5 feet above where it was near the end of July (1,040.6 feet). appreciated. Water level status projections from the BOR's March 2022 Most Probable Inflow 24-Month Study: The current water elevation for end of March is 1,063.11 feet. How Lake Mead has dried up between July 6, 2000 and July 3, 2022, massive rainfall across the western states, projections from the Bureau of Reclamation, Everyone Practices Cancel Culture | Opinion, Deplatforming Free Speech is Dangerous | Opinion. Jennifer Pitt, the Colorado River program director with the National Audubon Society, an environmental organization, previously told Newsweek: "To refill the Colorado River reservoirs, you would need three average years of snowfall without any water use. Let us know via science@newsweek.com. National Parks Traveler is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit media organization. So their demands have been higher.. This cuts water deliveries made to Lower Basin states, which include Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. More critically, the bureau predicts the reservoir will be at nearly the same level, around 1,041 feet, come January. Experts predict that in a few years, the lake's water levels could be as low as 895 feet, which would be too low to flow past the dam. And Lake Mead's water levels are currently 0.3 percent higher than originally predicted in December, the Bureau of Reclamation said, according to a News Now report. ELEVATION PROJECTIONS. One is that federal officials made an unprecedented decision last month to delay water released from upstream at Lake Powell, to preserve the Glen Canyon Dams hydropower-producing capabilities. The reduction of releases from Lake Powell from 7.48 maf to 7.00 maf in water year 2022 will result in a reduced release volume of 0.480 maf that normally would have been released from Glen Canyon Dam to Lake Mead as part of the 7.48 maf annual release volume, consistent with routine operations under the 2007 Interim Guidelines. Water Quality Current Conditions Table. The megadrought that has gripped large areas of the western states has caused the lake to get drier and drier every year: In July 2022, Lake Mead reached its lowest water level since it was constructed in the 1930s at 1,040.8 feet. Colorado River System Projections Overview, probabilistic results for the 2-year period, 2022 Glen Canyon Dam operational adjustment, Equalization Tier (Powell >= Equalization [EQ] Elevation), Upper Elevation Balancing Tier (Powell < EQ Elevation and >= 3,575 ft), Upper Elevation Balancing - annual release > 8.23 maf, Upper Elevation Balancing - annual release = 8.23 maf, Upper Elevation Balancing - annual release < 8.23 maf, Mid-Elevation Release Tier (Powell < 3,575 and >= 3,525 ft), Mid-Elevation Release - annual release = 8.23 maf, Mid-Elevation Release - annual release = 7.48 maf, Lower Elevation Balancing Tier (Powell < 3,525 ft), Lower Elevation Balancing - annual release > 8.23 maf, Lower Elevation Balancing - annual release < 8.23 maf, Surplus Condition - any amount (Mead >= 1,145 ft), Normal Year or ICS Surplus Condition (Mead < 1,145 and > 1,075 ft), Recovery of DCP ICS / Mexicos Water Savings (Mead >/>= 1,110 ft), DCP Contribution / Mexicos Water Savings (Mead <= 1,090 and > 1,075 ft), Shortage Condition - any amount (Mead <= 1,075 ft), Shortage / Reduction - 1st Level (Mead <= 1,075 and >= 1,050 ft), DCP Contribution / Mexicos Water Savings (Mead <= 1,075 and >= 1,050 ft), Shortage / Reduction - 2nd Level (Mead < 1,050 and >= 1,025 ft), DCP Contribution / Mexicos Water Savings (Mead < 1,050 and > 1,045 ft), DCP Contribution / Mexicos Water Savings (Mead <= 1,045 and > 1,040 ft), DCP Contribution / Mexicos Water Savings (Mead <= 1,040 and > 1,035 ft), DCP Contribution / Mexicos Water Savings (Mead <= 1,035 and > 1,030 ft), DCP Contribution / Mexicos Water Savings (Mead <= 1,030 and >=/> 1,025 ft), Shortage / Reduction - 3rd Level (Mead < 1,025 ft), DCP Contribution / Mexicos Water Savings (Mead <= 1,025 ft). As of December 1, the water levels stood at 1,042.97 feet. Water level status projections from the BORs March 2022 Most Probable Inflow 24-Month Study: National Parks Traveler 2021-22 Annual Report, National Parks Traveler 2020-2021 Annual Report, National Parks Traveler 2019-2020 Annual Report, Get the Essential RVing Guide To The National Parks, Understanding Climate Change Impacts On National Parks, Colorado River Series-Canyonlands National Park, Not Enough Water And Too Many Invasives At Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Mixing Oil And Water At Big Cypress National Preserve, Coping With 21st Century Wildfires In The Parks, Tackling The Maintenance Backlog In The Park System, Backlog Of Maintenance Needs Creates Risks In National Parks, Groups Continually At Work To Acquire Private Lands Key To National Parks, Invasive Species A Plague On the National Park System, Lack Of Dollars Crippling National Park Facilities For Staff And Visitors, Maintenance Backlog Impacts Historic Structures In National Parks, Mixing Energy Development And National Parks, NPS Is Running $670 Million Behind On Caring For Maintained Landscapes, National Park Roads And Bridges Impacted By Lack Of Maintenance, Private Philanthropy Fills The Gaps Of Deferred Maintenance, Wastewater And Sewer Facilities Failing In National Parks, The Care And Keeping Of History Within The National Park System, Oil Trains Pose A Significant Threat To National Parks, 3rd Annual Threatened And Endangered Parks, 2nd Annual Threatened And Endangered Parks, First Annual Threatened And Endangered Parks, Threatened And Endangered Parks: Introduction, Threatened And Endangered Parks: The Lists. Wet years in the 1990s and 2000s did not refill the lakes it simply kept them from going lower. Managing for both short-term emergencies and long-term sustainability makes this situation particularly difficult.". The drought that has scorched the region containing Lake Mead has meant that the reservoir has not refilled as quickly as the water is being used. Recording and transmission times may be more frequent during critical events. Lake Powell and Lake Mead operations are modeled as if the 0.480 maf had been delivered to Lake Mead for Lake Powell operating tier and condition determination purposes for the U.S. Lower Basin and for Mexico. And what happens upstream is of critical importance to Lake Mead. At Tier 3 something the forecast suggests is possible starting in January 2024 water cuts could be deep enough to extend beyond agriculture and impact household and industrial water use. Water levels in Lake Mead reached the lowest they have ever been last July, at 1,040.8 feet. The current water elevation for end of March is 1,063.11 feet. The current water elevation for end of March is 1,063.11 feet. They are typically updated every January, April, and August, while probabilistic results for the 2-year period are updated every month. Lake Mead's water level is projected to drop more than 30 feet in the next two years, and the Southern Nevada Water Authority is urging people to continue conserving water. Its dead pool levels where the water is so low that it cannot flow through the hydroelectric Hoover dam will occur at 895 feet and below. Florida: A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION FOR NATIONAL PARKS TRAVELER, (REGISTRATION NO. The good news is that leaving extra water in Powellcould buy us about a year, or maybe more if were lucky. "The water-supply forecasts look to be above average," Haley Paul, Arizona policy director for the National Audubon Society, previously told Newsweek. Specifically, Reclamation modeled operations as follows: The Glen Canyon Dam annual release is initially set to 7.00 maf, and in April of the given year Reclamation will evaluate hydrologic conditions to determine if balancing releases may be appropriate under the conditions established in the 2007 Interim Guidelines; Balancing releases will be limited (with a minimum of 7.00 maf) to protect Lake Powell from declining below elevation 3,525 feet at the end of December; and, Balancing releases will take into account operational neutrality of the 0.480 maf that was retained in Lake Powell under the. CNN The water level in Lake Mead the nation's largest reservoir dropped below 1,050 feet elevation for the first time last week, a critical milestone that signals more stringent. Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? This is due to recent heavy rainfall and winter storms that swept across Nevada and the neighboring states. Democrats fumble on the climate crisis again as US suffers consequences of inaction. "At the end of January 2023, the Basin States are expected to submit a new plan to the federal government, who is undertaking a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) process under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), for reducing water use by 2-4 million acre feet," Elizabeth Koebele, an associate professor of political science at the University of Nevada, Reno, previously told Newsweek. 4:08 PM EDT, Mon July 18, 2022. The investigation is continuing, the park said in a statement. Scientists are putting it mainly down to human-driven climate change. These reservoirs were built to store water in wet years in order to mitigate occasional drought. Projections at Lake Mead show there is a chance as high as 66% that water levels will decline to 1,025 feet by 2025, triggering a Tier 3 Shortage. Everyone Practices Cancel Culture | Opinion, Deplatforming Free Speech is Dangerous | Opinion. The Bureau of Reclamation released the report showing the lake level will drop every month until December, when the forecast shows the lake rising from 1,037.60 feet back up to 1,039.92 feet. Now, keep in mind: That 1,007-foot prediction is in whats called the minimum probable forecast, not the comparably rosiermost probable forecast that Reclamation typically uses to declare shortages and take other official actions. The Bureau of Reclamation's most recent projections show Lake Mead dropping to 1,033.4 feet in elevation by the end of 2023, about 14 feet lower than the reservoir's current level. Additionally, if too much rain comes at once, or too much snowpack melts at once due to higher temperatures, it risks running off into the ocean rather than refilling aquifers where we need it. The lake's water levels have risen since December, but are forecast to reach an all-time low later in the year. It is now at its lowest level since the lake was being filled in 1937. It then projects water levels will rise slightly at the beginning of 2024 to 1,029.90. Thats 18 feet past the deepest level of shortage for which weve plannedand 13 feet below its last major defense point before the lake completely tanks. Federal officials make those determinations on a year-by-year basis in August. Its far below what the outlooks were predicting as of last year. Virginia: Financial statements are available from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, 102 Governor Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219. Over-extraction, extreme heat and decreased snowmelt have burdened the Colorado River Basin and nearly 40 years later, Lake Mead is down to about 27% of its capacity. Because of the reservoirs plummeting level, states that rely on water from the lower Colorado River were already subject to the cuts that accompany a Tier 1 shortage beginning in January 2022, which have mainly impacted agricultural water use. A Warner Bros. However, the section containing Lake Mead is still within the "severe drought" category. A forecast from the Bureau of Reclamation released on August 31 show the two and five year projections at the lake. The reduction of releases from Lake Powell from 7.48 maf to 7.00 maf in water year 2022 will result in a reduced release volume of 0.480 maf that normally would have been released from Glen Canyon Dam to Lake Mead as part of the 7.48 maf annual release volume, consistent with routine operations under the 2007 Interim Guidelines. Lake Mead's "bathtub ring" is set to become even more pronounced this year. Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. water that was intended for Lake Mead but left inLake Powell, Looming Colorado River shortages could raise water rates, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. A woman paddles across the water at Lake Mead, Nevada last week. How much variance will that be? South Coves launch ramp is closed, but primitive launching is still available approximately 0.5 mile to the south of the concrete launch ramp. Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? wind forecast lake mead wind forecast lake mead (No Ratings Yet) . Discovery Company. The reservoirwhich stretches across Nevada and Arizona, on the Colorado Riveris relied upon by 25 million people living in the region. Projection for end of July 2022 is 1,046.87 feet. The new projections also estimate that the level will drop again to 1,040.83 feet in March 2023. At 1,050 feet, a Tier 2 shortage is declared, further decreasing the amount of water Arizona, Nevada and Mexico can use from the Colorado River. After three months of rising levels, Lake Mead is then projected to drop for seven consecutive months, when it will be at 1,023.71 feet. The lake has a surface area of 247.1 square miles and spans the Nevada-Arizona border, providing 25 million people across Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah with water. There tends to be plenty of stuff that goes to the bottom and you just wait around, Green said. Because the 2022 operations were designed to protect critical elevations at Lake Powell, Reclamation will implement Lower Elevation Balancing Tier operations in a way that continues to protect these critical elevations, or preserves the benefits of the 2022 operations to protect Lake Powell, in water year 2023 and 2024. "There's been a good start to the snowfall season, but it is way too early to know what runoff will look like," she said. Projected water levels are provided typically on the 15th of each month by the BOR. These lake-wide averages are based on a select set of U.S. and Canadian station data as determined by the Coordinating Committee. ", "There's been a good start to the snowfall season, but it is way too early to know what runoff will look like. It has also lead to the discovery of many things, including a decades-old gunshot victim in a barrel, sunken boats and more recently, a World War II-era vessel. 601 Nevada Way A formerly sunken boat sits high and dry along the shoreline of Lake Mead in May. 2023 Cable News Network. Launch ramp access on Lake Mohave will remain stable. Projected water levels are provided typically on the 15th of each month by theBOR.Water level status projections from the BORs March 2022 Most Probable Inflow 24-Month Study: The NPS and interagency partners are collaborating to plan for longer term operational conditions as water levels in Lake Mead continue to fluctuate. Officials expect more grim finds, and have already received calls from visitors about possible remains that turned out to be animal bones or prop skeletons left by local scuba divers years earlier. "Lake Mead's water levels have been declining since 2000," Jennifer Pitt, director of the Audubon Colorado River Program, previously told Newsweek. Arizona saw a similar trend, with the proportion of the state suffering from Severe Drought dropping from 12.78 percent to 1.15 percent. As the drought has gone on for so long, despite the rain giving respite to Lake Mead's water levels, it will take a lot more wet weather to fix the problem. 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