{"id":553607,"date":"2023-02-18T18:57:22","date_gmt":"2023-02-18T15:57:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/water-crisis-in-west-massive-reservoir-lake-powell-hits-historic-low-water-level\/"},"modified":"2023-02-18T18:57:22","modified_gmt":"2023-02-18T15:57:22","slug":"water-crisis-in-west-massive-reservoir-lake-powell-hits-historic-low-water-level","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/water-crisis-in-west-massive-reservoir-lake-powell-hits-historic-low-water-level\/","title":{"rendered":"#Water crisis in West: Massive reservoir Lake Powell hits historic low water level"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a23a565a80d1\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a23a565a80d1\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/water-crisis-in-west-massive-reservoir-lake-powell-hits-historic-low-water-level\/#Water_crisis_in_West_Massive_reservoir_Lake_Powell_hits_historic_low_water_level\" >Water crisis in West: Massive reservoir Lake Powell hits historic low water level<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-2' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/water-crisis-in-west-massive-reservoir-lake-powell-hits-historic-low-water-level\/#What_is_Lake_Powell\" >What is Lake Powell?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/water-crisis-in-west-massive-reservoir-lake-powell-hits-historic-low-water-level\/#What_happens_if_the_water_level_goes_lower\" >What happens if the water level goes lower?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/water-crisis-in-west-massive-reservoir-lake-powell-hits-historic-low-water-level\/#Why_is_the_water_level_so_low\" >Why is the water level so low?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/water-crisis-in-west-massive-reservoir-lake-powell-hits-historic-low-water-level\/#What_about_Lake_Mead_and_the_Hoover_Dam\" >What about Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/water-crisis-in-west-massive-reservoir-lake-powell-hits-historic-low-water-level\/#What_will_happen_if_water_levels_keep_dropping\" >What will happen if water levels keep dropping?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/water-crisis-in-west-massive-reservoir-lake-powell-hits-historic-low-water-level\/#Dig_deeper_on_climate_change\" >Dig deeper on climate change:<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Water_crisis_in_West_Massive_reservoir_Lake_Powell_hits_historic_low_water_level\"><\/span>Water crisis in West: Massive reservoir Lake Powell hits historic low water level<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<p>Lake Powell, the nation&#8217;s second-largest reservoir and one that\u00a0provides water and power to millions of people in southern California, has reached its lowest levels since its first filling in the 1960s.<\/p>\n<p>Its companion reservoir, Lake Mead, is at levels almost as low.<\/p>\n<p>Together, these reservoirs, fed by the mighty Colorado River, provide the water 40\u00a0million Americans depend on. Despite the storms that brought heavy rain and snow to California and other Western states in January, experts say it would take years of such weather to replenish the West&#8217;s water resources.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the year 2000, the two reservoirs were 95% full.\u00a0They\u2019re roughly 25% full now,\u201d said\u00a0Brad Udall, a water and climate scientist at Colorado State University. &#8220;It\u2019s hard to overstate how important the Colorado River is to the entire American southwest.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>What to know about the West&#8217;s ongoing water crisis:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"An abandoned and once-sunken boat sits along the shoreline of Lake Powell in this May 2022 file photo. The white ring above shows how high the water level was when the lake was full.\" data-uuid=\"60837139-47de-314b-bda0-322ee4f7edea\" height=\"1524\" id=\"11170882002\" src=\"https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/aol_usatoday_us_articles_590\/c5b18fafa52d0411d0e13f27552e9acf\" width=\"1125\"><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"presto-h2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_Lake_Powell\"><\/span>What is Lake Powell?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Lake Powell is the nation&#8217;s second-largest\u00a0reservoir.\u00a0It was\u00a0created by blocking the Colorado River at\u00a0Glen Canyon in southern Utah and northern\u00a0Arizona.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"exclude-from-newsgate\"><strong>How does climate change affect you?<\/strong>: <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/USATclimatenews\">Subscribe to the weekly Climate Point newsletter<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"exclude-from-newsgate\"><strong>READ MORE<\/strong>: Latest climate change <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> from USA TODAY<\/span><\/p>\n<p>It stores water as part of the Colorado River Compact and produces\u00a0electricity through the hydroelectric turbines in Glen Canyon dam.<\/p>\n<p>Work on the dam that created Lake Powell began in 1956 and was finished in 1966. It took 16 years for it to fill. <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.azcentral.com\/story\/news\/local\/arizona-environment\/2019\/07\/18\/1983-arizona-glen-canyon-dam-lake-powell-almost-overflowed-colorado-river\/1662234001\/\">At its highest, in 1983<\/a>, the lake was 3,708 feet above sea level.<\/p>\n<p>Today it stands at <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/powell.uslakes.info\/Level\/\">3,522 feet<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"presto-h2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_happens_if_the_water_level_goes_lower\"><\/span>What happens if the water level goes lower?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Lake Powell hasn&#8217;t been this low since June of 1965, just two years after it began to fill with water.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The biggest worry<\/strong>: If\u00a0the lake\u2019s level falls much lower, it won\u2019t be possible to get water out of it.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Why?<\/strong>\u00a0Tubes\u00a0that run water through its out of the lake and into  eight hydroelectric turbines could soon be above the water. There are bypass tubes available below that point, but they weren\u2019t designed for continuous use, so it\u2019s not clear how they would fare.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Important quote:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cIf you can\u2019t get water out of the dam, it means everyone downstream doesn\u2019t get water,\u201d said Udall. &#8220;That includes agriculture, cities like Los Angeles, San Diego and Phoenix.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li><strong>Will water stop flowing?\u00a0<\/strong>&#8220;That&#8217;s a doomsday scenario,&#8221; said\u00a0Bill Hasencamp, Colorado River resources manager for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. Before things get to that point the Department of the Interior will require reductions in use.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><strong>How long until water stops flowing downstream?<\/strong> If the lake falls another 32 feet \u2013 about the amount it fell in the past year \u2013 power generation concerns become more urgent,\u00a0Udall said. Snowmelt this spring is forecast to bring levels up somewhat.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 class=\"presto-h2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_is_the_water_level_so_low\"><\/span>Why is the water level so low?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The water in Lake Powell is low because the amount of water in the Colorado River has been falling for decades. At the same time,\u00a0demand has risen due to increased population growth in the West.<\/p>\n<p>Overall, the river&#8217;s flow\u00a0is down 20% in this century relative to the 20th century.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"exclude-from-newsgate\"><strong style=\"margin-right:3px\">BACKGROUND: <\/strong>Western water crisis looms as California complicates critical water deal<\/span><\/p>\n<p>More than four scientific studies\u00a0have pinned a large part of the decline on human climate change. It&#8217;s partly that there&#8217;s less rain and snow, partly that as temperatures rise, plants use more water and more water evaporates out of the soil which would otherwise have ended up in the river. In addition, the river itself experiences more evaporation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It\u2019s unfortunate that the\u00a0largely natural occurrence of a drought has coincided with this increasing warming due to greenhouse gases,&#8221; said Flavio Lehner, a\u00a0professor of atmospheric <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/sciencee\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"5\" title=\"Science\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">science<\/a>s at Cornell University. &#8220;That has brought everything to a head much earlier than people thought it would.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"presto-h2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_about_Lake_Mead_and_the_Hoover_Dam\"><\/span>What about Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Lake Mead is the nation&#8217;s largest reservoir, a companion to Lake Powell. Mead was created when the Hoover Dam was completed in 1935. It supplies water and power to Arizona, California, New Mexico and Mexico.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Lake Mead&#8217;s level is <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/mead.uslakes.info\/level.asp\">1,047 feet above sea level<\/a>.\u00a0 You would have to go back to April of 1937, also two\u00a0years into its initial filling, to find levels that low. It is forecast to have a new record low next summer, said\u00a0Hasencamp.<\/p>\n<p>The lake isn&#8217;t low enough yet to cause concerns about getting water out, but any hope of it refilling is years away, if ever, due to lowered rain and snow and increasing evaporation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Some of America\u2019s largest cities depend on the water from Lake Mead. \u201cIt\u2019s 90% of the water supply to Las Vegas, 50% to Phoenix, effectively 100% to Tucson and 25% to Los Angeles,\u201d said Udall.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"presto-h2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_will_happen_if_water_levels_keep_dropping\"><\/span>What will happen if water levels keep dropping?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The Department of the Interior had asked the seven states of the Colorado River Compact to come up with a plan to cut between 2 and 4 million acre-feet of water by January. They weren\u2019t able to come up with an agreement.<\/p>\n<p>Because of that, it\u2019s expected that the Department of the Interior&#8217;s\u00a0Bureau of Reclamation, which oversees water management, will mandate one\u00a0sometime next year.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>arently a decent (water) year, but still, if it turns dry again there are some pretty big reductions on tap and every state could be affected,&#8221; said\u00a0Hasencamp.<\/p>\n<p>It will be painful but it doesn&#8217;t mean the area can&#8217;t thrive.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The West might look different,&#8221; said Hasencamp. &#8220;You might not see the lush lawns of today and endless fields of alfalfa, but you will see thriving communities and agricultural regions.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"presto-h2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Dig_deeper_on_climate_change\"><\/span><span class=\"exclude-from-newsgate\">Dig deeper on climate change:<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"exclude-from-newsgate\"><strong>DEFINITIONS<\/strong>: Is climate change the same thing as global warming? Definitions explained.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"exclude-from-newsgate\"><strong>CAUSES<\/strong>: Why scientists say humans are to blame.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"exclude-from-newsgate\"><strong>EFFECTS<\/strong>: What are the effects of climate change? How they disrupt our daily life, fuel disasters.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lake Powell water level at historic low: Drought, water crisis in West<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/2023\/02\/17\/lake-powell-water-level-drought-water-crisis-west\/11257099002\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Water crisis in West: Massive reservoir Lake Powell hits historic low water level Lake Powell, the nation&#8217;s second-largest reservoir and one that\u00a0provides water and power to millions of people in southern California, has reached its lowest levels since its first filling in the 1960s. Its companion reservoir, Lake Mead, is at levels almost as low&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":553608,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/aol_usatoday_us_articles_590\/c5b18fafa52d0411d0e13f27552e9acf","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-553607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=553607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553607\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/553608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=553607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=553607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=553607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}