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The Hoover Dam hits an alarming record low
As the largest reservoir in the United States, Lake Mead – created in the 1930s with the construction of the Hoover Dam – is an engineering marvel that is vital to supplying water to 25 million people in the American Southwest. Because of this, experts and locals are alarmed that it has dropped to low levels this spring, underscoring the severity of the extreme drought that has hit the region. “It’s like another world.” Pat Mulroy is the former head of the Southern Nevada Water Authority. “This landscape is crying out for problems. I mean, just look at the bath tub rings. It’s a tremendous wake-up call to me. ”At 11:00 PM local time on Wednesday, Lake Mead’s surface fell below its previous record low of July 1, 2016. Since 2000, it has fallen 140 feet – almost the height of the Statue of Liberty from the torch to the base. Originating from the damming of the Colorado River, about 30 miles east of Las Vegas, the reservoir supplies large cities like Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Tucson and Las Vegas with water – and farmers like Dan Thelander, who are now forced to give up “Without We can’t farm irrigation water. ”The drought that brought down Lake Mead has hit California, the Pacific Northwest, the Great Basin states of Nevada, Oregon, and Utah, as well as Arizona, New Mexico, and even part of the Northern Plains – with officials across the West issuing emergency measures. In Utah, the governor literally asked people to pray for rain. “We need divine intervention.” Back at Lake Mead, the US Bureau of Reclamation, overseas water resource management, will probably declare a Level 1 deficiency for the first time – the lake’s most extreme. This would reduce water supplies to several surrounding states, including Arizona – which, according to the Arizona Department of Water Resources, could be depleted by as much as one year’s water supplies to nearly 1 million households. But Pat Mulroy says drastic times are required to take drastic action. “We don’t change unless we absolutely have to. But when you look at this lake, I think that the moment of ‘this is absolutely necessary’ has come. “
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