Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the country, has dropped to its lowest level since it was filled in the 1930s, a decline that reflects 14 years of drought and a growing imbalance between the Colorado River’s flows and the demands of cities and farms across the Southwest.
The white band left on the lake’s rocky banks by minerals in the receding water now stretches more than 130 feet below a high-water mark last reached in 2000. And as the reservoir continues to ebb, water managers from across the region have begun negotiating steps they could take jointly to avert a serious shortage that would trigger cutbacks in water deliveries to Arizona, Nevada and Mexico.
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“It’s time for us to wake up. If this drought continues, we’re going to be in a terrible situation within the next 12-24 months,” said Jay Famiglietti, senior water scientist at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. His research, which uses satellites to track changes in water supplies, has confirmed that the Colorado River Basin has lost vast amounts of groundwater during the past decade.
The fact that Lake Mead is now 39 percent full shows how dire the water situation has become, Famiglietti said. “I think it says that this region is in trouble. I think it says that we need to really rethink our water use in this region, our demand in this region because it is far outstripping the supply.”
Last week, the level of Lake Mead slipped below the previous record set in 2010 of 1,081.85 feet above sea level, as measured by the Bureau of Reclamation. As of Sunday, the water level stood at about 1,081.7 feet, and the reservoir is expected to continue declining for several months.
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