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Lake Mead water level set to drop below 1965 mark

Posted by: Maven on April 15, 2009 at 8:24 am

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

Drought-stricken Lake Mead is expected to drop this summer to its lowest level since May 1965, and water managers say it is approaching the trigger point for restrictions on water use by Nevada and Arizona.

A U.S. Bureau of Reclamation report projects that by July, the vast Colorado River reservoir behind Hoover Dam will stabilize about 13 feet below its current level of 1,105 feet above sea level. The lower level of 1,092 feet would be below 1,100 feet for the first time in 44 years, and just 17 feet above the 1,075-foot elevation that would trigger the first shortage declaration under a sweeping interstate pact signed in December 2007.

That 20-year agreement involving California, Arizona, Nevada, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico provided new rules for jointly operating the Lake Mead and Lake Powell reservoirs during extended dry spells such as the one that has gripped the Southwest since 2001.

Colorado River water flow to Mexico is not affected by the 2007 pact, said Bob Walsh, a Bureau of Reclamation spokesman in Boulder City.

Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle by clicking here.

April 15, 2009 · Filed Under Colorado River & the Southwest

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