The Colorado River drought across Lake Mead and Lake Powell, as seen in NASA satellite images - Vox
By: Umair Irfan (Vox)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
More water cuts are coming as the nation's largest reservoirs continue to dry up in the worst drought in 1,200 years.
By Umair Irfan Aug 17, 2022, 2:20pm EDT A truck pulls a house boat by Lake Powell in Page, Arizona, in March. As a megadrought grips parts of the Western United States, water levels at Lake Powell and Lake Mead have dropped to record lows since the Colorado River was dammed in 1963.Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
The extraordinary drought across the Western United States is only getting worse, and the images have been stunning: boats listing on dry lake beds, yellowing vegetation, and "bathtub rings" around reservoirs showing just how much water levels have fallen. It's led to historic water rationing measures, including a new round of cuts announced this week from the federal government after seven states along the Colorado River failed to meet a deadline to come up with a plan to voluntarily reduce their water use.
"In order to avoid a catastrophic collapse of the Colorado River System and a future of uncertainty and conflict, water use in the Basin must be reduced," said Tanya Trujillo, assistant secretary for water and science at the Department of the Interior, in a statement this week.
The full scale of the drought, however, can only be seen from space. NASA satellites have been monitoring waterways in the West for years and documenting how the region is drying up. It's part of a trend lasting almost two decades, making it the worst drought in 1,200 years. Part of the severity of this "megadrought" has been worsened by climate change.
The two largest reservoirs in the United States, both on the Colorado River, illustrate this vividly. The Colorado River system as a whole is at 34 percent of its peak capacity this year, down from 40 percent last year.
Lake Mead, the reservoir impounded by the Hoover Dam between Nevada and Arizona, is the largest in water capacity. It can hold 9.3 trillion gallons of water at its peak and reach an elevation of 1,220 feet above sea level. But the last time it was anywhere close to that level was 1999. This summer, the water elevation fell to about 1,042 feet, a record low, and put the lake below 27 percent of its capacity.
Compare the satellite images of the lake in 2000 and in 2022, and you can see the stark decline:
Water levels at Lake Mead have fallen dramatically amid a record drought.NASA Earth Observatory
If water levels in Lake Mead dip below 1,000 feet, the massive generators that produce more than 2,000 megawatts at their peak can no longer operate as normal. And if the drought continues, Lake Mead could reach "dead pool status," where the water level is too low to flow downstream.
The situation is also grim further upstream along the Colorado River. Lake Powell, which was formed by the Glen Canyon Dam between Utah and Arizona, is also at record low water levels. It can hold about 8.2 trillion gallons at its peak with its water elevation reaching 3,700 feet above sea level. Water levels this spring fell below 3,525 feet above sea level, putting Lake Powell below 26 percent of its full capacity.
Satellite images taken in 1999 and 2021 illustrate the decline:
Lake Powell has also seen a major drop in water levels in recent years. NASA Earth Observatory
On top of the decades-long drying trend, the past two years have also been exceptionally dry in the Western US. Massive reservoirs like Lake Mead and Lake Powell have enough water to weather year-to-year variations in dryness, but the decades-long drying is difficult to endure.
"There's a drought within a drought," said Sean Turner, a water resources modeler at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. "Those dams [on the Colorado River] are suffering not necessarily because of the 2020-2022 drought that's occurring right now, but more because of the dry conditions over 20 years."
But there are reservoirs that have fallen as a result of the more recent drought. Shasta Lake, California's largest reservoir, dropped 106 feet in elevation from when it was last full in 2019. The water's retreat from the shoreline is clearly visible in these photos:
Water levels declined drastically in California's Shasta Lake between 2019 and 2021. The light edges surrounding the water in 2021 are areas of the lakebed usually underwater.NASA Earth Observatory
Unlike other major reservoirs that are also fed by snowpack and groundwater, about 90 percent of water in Shasta Lake comes from rainfall. That means the reservoir is more vulnerable to seasonal changes in precipitation. On the other hand, a year with good rainfall can recharge it. Water levels on Shasta Lake are a bit higher in 2022 than 2021, but it was still only at 38 percent capacity this summer. Shasta Lake is also much smaller than Lake Mead or Lake Powell, retaining upward of 1.46 trillion gallons when full.
Similarly, Lake Oroville in California, with a peak capacity of 1.15 trillion gallons, also saw a big drop in water levels between 2019 and 2021:
Lake Oroville's water level retreat is clearly visible in these satellite images.NASA Earth Observatory
It's important to remember that these reservoirs are artificial bodies of water. How much they contain is not just due to the whims of nature but also human management. Water levels are a function of inputs like rain and groundwater, and outputs discharged to quench major cities, irrigate farms, and generate electricity.
Rising temperatures also play a major role, leading to more evaporation and causing snowpacks to melt earlier in the season. Warmer weather increases energy and water demands from cities and agriculture. And as people continue pumping more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels, the planet's temperature will rise higher, putting a tighter squeeze on what little water is available.
All of this is increasing political tension as the water users in the West must balance their growing thirst with shrinking supplies. Federal officials noted that the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides $8.3 billion for water infrastructure programs, and the Inflation Reduction Act signed this week adds another $4 billion for water management. But money can't make water appear where there is none, and the Western US will have to do more with far less. This week, the US Bureau of Reclamation, which manages water projects in the Western US and is the country's largest water wholesaler, announced new water rationing measures for states along the Colorado River basin.
"The system is approaching a tipping point and without action, we cannot protect the system and the millions of Americans who rely on this critical resource," said Camille Calimlim Touton, commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, during a press conference this week.
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If solutions are not presented and implemented the choice will be taken from our hands and the effects of that could be a diaster for all involved.
The various players won't even talk to each other and many continue to ignore there is a problem.
The Gila River tribe has said that they will not any longer release their allotment back to the Mead any longer because they are fed up with the states not willing to sit down and try to solve the problem.
Droughts may come and go, but the demand has exceeded the average recharge
That somehow has to change.
This drought hasn't gone in 20-plus years and the inability to actually understand or admit that water is finite is the problem.
I heard that on NPR awhile back. The feds tried to negotiate, but the states (except for CA) won't even acknowledge the problem let alone try to deal with it. The feds have no teeth to back up any mandates on the issue so at some point the South West could just not have water. That might be one way to get my son and his family to move back home...
fortunately most of those downstream deniers with calcified skulls are on the home stretch...
The Feds have told the states to come up with a plan or they will take over and do it for them and they won't like the results.
Nice article, but from that link:
You know that if the Biden Admin does anything the states will sue and while it's tied up in courts the water will keep flowing.
If that happens, EG then the tribes and there are many with water rights will do the same as the Gila River tribe is doing. The states will start to understand what pain really is in the cost of water.
Yup. Oh someday, probably long past us, they will understand.
what's happened to lake powell really pisses me off. desperate times call for desperate measures. start making the water wasters pay a hefty premium for their excess.
"Part of the severity of this "megadrought" has been worsened by climate change.
We need to see the science, and the data
The US has reduced emissions more than any other country
The drought and our inability to understand that water are finite is the problem.
True. Some very hard and unpopular choices will need to be made.....and soon.
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Fuck who George?
Seems that George doesn't want to answer the question.
We all know who his comment was aimed at he simply doesn't have the backbone to man up which is no surprise, that is the MO of most of his ilk.
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LOL
Damn! We can't get away with nuttin' around here!
... the usual suspects. meh, I don't have this thing on all the time...
What! a trolling ticket for pointing out a racist...How cool is that?
I wonder what whiny bitch flagged it? Not hard to figure out.
I know who flagged it because you just got flagged...but I took care of it
Morning Devan..what movie is that from please?
I'm not Devan but that movie is from Dances With Wolves. At least I think it is
Thanks Trout...hmm I have seen Dances with Wolves but that was yonks (ages) ago and don't remember that part..will check it out...
Have a swimmingly good evening..🐨
it's an obscure documentary called the NA guide to effectively dealing with fascism. /s
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I think you hit the nail on the head the other day. This is what happens when they build a city in the desert then try to make subdivisions with green lawns and flowers that have to be watered every day.
... in addition to all the swimming pools and golf courses.
Yep, in the middle of a desert. Then complain when they are short of water.
They are just wasting water trying to transform nature. It never will work.
Supposedly it's less about the city and lawns and more about the agricultural usage in California.
Let's just say I would rather have a rock garden and food.
I can't blame it all on one state (but I can point fingers...).
if it was up to me, there'd be a gate and a gallon meter at the colorado/utah border.
It's about the over usage of water in the 7 western states and a thousand year drought. The water usage in desert states is 70% outside water use and 30% is indoors. Planting lawns, artificial lakes and GC in a desert is not that bright if they want it to look like the midwest move there. The one state that has done more than any other would be Nevada.
In AZ and part of the Central Valley of CA the farmers are letting thousands of acres go fallow for lack of water. Many are removing high-water type crops like almonds and cotton. West Texas is in the same situation with cotton planting and are letting fields go fallow.
We can grow food in places where they have plenty of water.
Interesting read.
https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/2022/02/24/california-water/?gclid=CjwKCAjwqJSaBhBUEiwAg5W9p-fdF8eXl1K6D9tKGM4rCdRz0PN_ZhYVRjdCGtv6GooWVSuu68h96RoCJXgQAvD_BwE
That is just scratching the surface, Jack. Foreign companies own, pork and cattle ranches and use tons of water right here in the US. There are other US-owned companies that do the same.
Nestle (foreign-owned) pumps millions of gallons of some of the finest/cleanest spring water in the US from Florida and finally people have rebelled against them the last request to pump more water was turned down and I've heard that they are going to sell or have sold their Florida water business.
The Saudi deal is a company named Fondomonte Farms a subsidiary of another Saudi company and they own 15,000 acres close to Blythe CA.
I think that most Americans would be shocked at the number of food companies that are owned by foreign companies.
Smithfield Foods owned by the Chinese the top three tuna companies, Starkist, Bumblebee, and Chicken of the Sea are all foreign-owned.
At least some part of that has to do with the tax advantages of inverting a company. Companies like Campbell's Soup and Walgreens are "foreign owned", but mostly to avoid the stupid corporate income tax rates in place at the time.
But you're right, of course. Most Americans are clueless.
Here is another thing that most Americans are clueless about...The US does not own a single Container Shipping Co in the top 25 in the world. The few that we have are minor players on the world stage. At one point in time, we have three of the largest, US Lines, American President Lines, and Sealand all were purchased by foreign companies.
Where that leaves us in the case of a war we have little heavy lift capacity. We have agreements with a few foreign lines that would supply us with containers unless they are in the middle of the war.
US Lines went bankrupt and was sold off in pieces. SeaLand was purchased by Maersk Lines (Danish) and APL was sold to NOL (Singapore) which was then sold to MSC I believe.
Pretty sad commentary when the most successful/powerful country in the world has to rely on foreign companies if we need massive heavy life capability.
We could go on all night and well into next week with this list.