• Water

Lake Powell’s Record Low Water Levels Threaten Power for Millions

• colorado river
• Lake Mead
• water shortage

By Amy Lupica, ODP Daily Editor In August, the federal government declared the first-ever water shortage along the Colorado River as drought pushed its largest reservoir, Lake Mead, to record lows. Now, that shortage is threatening the power supply of 5.8 million homes and businesses and water levels at the nation’s second largest reservoir, Lake […]

• Water

California Declares Supply Alert, Restricting Water Use in the Region

• colorado river
• Drought
• Lake Mead
• water shortage

By Natasha Lasky, ODP Staff Writer The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California declared a supply alert — a request for the region to cut water use and prepare for this historic drought to continue. According to the supply alert, citizens of Southern California must voluntarily reduce their water consumption so that the region’s storage reserves remain […]

• Water

Western Reservoirs Running Dry

• Drought
• Lake Mead
• Lake Powell
• water

By Ashira Morris, ODP Staff Writer The West is currently in the middle of a severe drought, and Lake Powell, the region’s second-largest reservoir, is at its lowest level in decades. The lake, located on the Colorado River, is effectively a human-made storage basin that keeps the regional water supply in balance under the 100-year-old […]

• Climate Change

“Megadrought” Takes Lake Mead to an All-Time Low

• climate change
• colorado river
• drinking water
• Drought
• Lake Mead

The nation’s largest reservoir, Lake Mead, created by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, has reached record lows (at only 36% full) in the face of a severe drought sweeping the western U.S. The reservoir supplies drinking water for 25 million people in Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Tucson, Las Vegas, and more.

Why This Matters: Drought is becoming a permanent fixture across the west, and dry conditions are moving further east each year. 

• Water

Six States Back Colorado River Water Sharing Plan, Arizona on the Fence

• Arizona
• climate change
• colorado river
• Department of Interior
• Drought
• Lake Mead
• shortage
• tribes
• water

Tomorrow is the deadline for a deal among the seven states that share water from the Colorado River, and one state, Arizona, is holding out.  The water plan agreed to by the other states back in December, confronts the long-running drought in the region, the resulting dwindling supply of water from the River, and how the states can ensure river water does not get overused.  Arizona was the only state that required the plan be approved by its Legislature, which according to the Associated Press, has made the negotiations on the drought contingency plan more complex. What if Arizona does not meet the deadline?  Then the Department of Interior will allegedly ask the other states for their views on how to divide the limited pool of water, and then the federal government will rule unilaterally.