Business Insider – Water cuts are coming to Arizona and Nevada after the US declared the first-ever Colorado River water shortageEstimated Reading Time: just 3 min

As reported on Business Insider:

lake mead dry bathtub ring
A person looks out over Lake Mead on August 13, 2021. The bathtub ring of light minerals shows the high water mark of the reservoir which has fallen to record lows.

John Locher/AP Photo

For the first time ever, the US federal government has declared a water shortage on the Colorado River.

That’s because Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir, is lower than it’s ever been. It provides water to 25 million people across Arizona, Nevada, California, and Mexico, but as of Monday it’s at just 1,067 feet above sea level – about 35% full.

The federal water-shortage declaration means that Arizona and Nevada will face mandatory water cut-backs in January. The cuts will mostly affect farmers in Arizona; the state will lose about one-fifth of the water it normally gets from the river, according to The Associated Press.

"It’s very significant," Brad Udall, senior water and climate scientist at Colorado State University, told CNN. "It’s something that those of us in the climate community have been worried about for over a decade, based on declining flows due to climate change."

buoy on dry land next to lake mead
A buoy rests on the ground at a closed boat ramp on Lake Mead, August 13, 2021

John Locher/AP Photo

The US is experiencing its worst drought in the 20-year history of the US Drought Monitor, which tracks such conditions across the country. Last week, 26.5% of the country was in "extreme" or "exceptional" drought.

Such droughts will probably become more common and more intense as global temperatures continue to rise in the coming decades, according to a new report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change last week. Rising temperatures will also reduce the snowpack that would normally replenish the Colorado River every year. That could lead to more severe water cutbacks.

lake mead's low waters expose pale cliffs behind the hoover dam
Low water levels expose the edges of the Hoover Dam reservoir of Lake Mead near Las Vegas, Nevada, June 9, 2021.

Bridget Bennett/Reuters

The water-shortage declaration came with an August report from the US Bureau of Reclamation, which projected that Lake Mead would not rise back above 1,075 feet by January. Under a set of Colorado River guidelines established in 2007, that low forecast is considered a shortage condition.

The new restrictions for Arizona and Nevada are the first tier of cuts under those guidelines.

Read the original article on Business Insider



Source: Business Insider
Author: mmcfalljohnsen@insider.com (Morgan McFall-Johnsen)
Date: August 17th 2021
Link: https://www.businessinsider.com/us-declares-first-colorado-river-shortage-arizona-nevada-water-cuts-2021-8

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