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Hoover Dam contracts for low-water hydroelectric turbine

Posted by: Maven on May 19, 2010 at 6:10 am

From Power Magazine:

“Growing water demand and reduced runoff due to drought has depleted waters feeding many hydroelectric power plants around the world—sometimes causing severe power shortages, such as in Brazil and New Zealand. The 2,080-MW Hoover Dam, a facility that generates power for more than a million people in Arizona, Nevada, and Southern California, is not immune to this phenomenon. According to a recent study by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the Colorado River system, which includes Lake Powell and Lake Mead (both manmade reservoirs), is suffering a net deficit of nearly one million acre-feet of water per year.

The study estimated a 50% chance that levels at Lake Mead, already showing a deficit, could drop too low for power production. Additionally, the Scripps researchers predicted that there is a 50% chance that by 2021, Lake Mead could run dry if water demand is not curbed and climate changes continue as expected. … “

Continue reading from Power Magazine by clicking here.

May 19, 2010 · Filed Under Las Vegas & Nevada

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