The vast and beautiful Colorado River Reservoir is expected to shrink due to on-going drought. This is because the surface level at Lake Mead has dropped to record low levels, which was never seen before, causing concern to nearby people. It is from this lake water that Colorado and neighbouring areas are being supplied from.
Even though the lake was closely monitored by engineers, the water level was reduced drastically to its lowest position. This is the first time since 1936 that the water level has decreased to a surface level of 1074.68 feet above sea level.
Meanwhile, the US Bureau of Reclamation has officially decided to drop the water level to another few feet by the end of June 2016. After that, the reservoir will be refilled by December to avoid water shortages to residents, business establishments, and farms in Arizona, Nevada and California.
Responding to media, Rose Davis, reclamation bureau spokeswoman, revealed that the current decrease grabbed its own place in the history books, right next to the one that took place on June 25 last year.
The department also expects that the lake would drop water level even further, but they also estimate it will be back to normalcy by December 31, thus avoiding water shortages in 2017. The situation will be grave if the water issue doesn’t improve and it will certainly affect nearby areas.
The lake’s water is currently at 37% of its full capacity
Occupied by a white mineral “bathtub ring“, the lake’s water accounts for 37% of its full capacity. According to water experts, nearly 130 feet in surface level has been lost since 2000. Interestingly, it reached full capacity in 1983.
Lake Mead supplies drinking water to Las Vegas, which includes 2 million residents and 40 million tourists. Officials are working hard to retain the current water level to avoid any future problem.
With the total capacity of 1,225 feet above sea level, LakeMead’s water level reaches dead-pool when it decreases to 900 feet.
