News Flash: Lake Mead- A Shrinking Water Supply
By Sanjoli Gupta
Climate change causes increases in extreme weather events by increasing droughts and creating excessive heat. This heat leads to the evaporation of lakes used for recreational activities such as swimming, boating and more, but more importantly used for irrigation, electricity and drinking water. Recently, Lake Mead, connected to the Colorado river, has lost dozens of feet of water - precisely 170 feet- since its largest volume in 1983 (Locher 2022). It hit the lowest level of just 1,040 feet during the summer (White 2023).
Lake Mead is connected to the Colorado river which supplies water to seven states (“Colorado River”) The water in this river is being heavily diverted to lakes and reservoirs to supply water to different areas, and the loss of dozens of feet of clean water is a concern. There is increasing conflict between what water should be used for and how much should be allocated to agriculture. 25 million people depend on Lake Mead.
Thankfully, with the heavy rains in January increased the percentage of the lake filled from 27% to 28% of full capacity (White 2023). There is still much work to be done to ensure the lakes can continue to replenish themselves and that we don’t run out of clean and drinking water.
Work Cited
“Colorado River Basin.” Colorado River Basin | DNR CWCB, https://cwcb.colorado.gov/colorado-river#:~:text=The%20Colorado%20River%20flows%20for,Arizona%2C%20California%2C%20and%20Nevada.
Locher, John. “AP Photos: Extremely Low Levels at Lake Mead amid Drought.” AP NEWS, Associated Press, 11 July 2022, https://apnews.com/article/lake-mead-drought-photo-gallery-abab298019a44aef0181ad79aad12ab9.
White, Robyn. “How Lake Mead Water Levels Look after Weeks of Heavy Rainfall.” Newsweek, Newsweek, 20 Jan. 2023, https://www.newsweek.com/lake-mead-water-levels-look-after-weeks-heavy-rainfall-1774912.