Скачать или смотреть Lake Mead Water Levels Set to Reach All Time Low in 2023

Lake Mead's water levels could reach an all-time low in 2023, projections from the Bureau of Reclamation show.

The Colorado River reservoir—which has been rapidly drying up due to the ongoing megadrought gripping Nevada and neighboring states—could reach lows of 1,024.47 feet by November, a study released by the Bureau on January 19 said.

Lake Mead's water levels have risen slightly from 1,042.97 feet at the beginning of December, to 1,045.80 feet as of January 19. This is due to recent heavy rainfall and winter storms that swept across Nevada and the neighboring states. But the recent projections show it will take a lot more than rainfall to change the dire outlook for the lake.Elizabeth Koebele, an associate professor of political science at the University of Nevada, Reno, told Newsweek: "This is a Colorado River problem — what I call a "system problem" — and we'd be remiss to think of it otherwise. Lake Mead is mainly filled by releases from an upstream reservoir called Lake Powell, which captures runoff in the Upper Colorado River Basin. These reservoirs were built to store water in wet years in order to mitigate occasional drought. However, due to a combination of prolonged drought over the last two decades, increasing aridification from climate change, and a set of historical laws that has promoted overuse of Colorado River water in the Lower Basin, both reservoirs are at their lowest levels since being constructed."

Water levels in Lake Mead reached the lowest they have ever been last July, at 1,040.8 feet. The Lake hadn't reached such a low level since it was constructed in the 1930s.The new projections also estimate that the level will drop again to 1,040.83 feet in March 2023. From there, the Bureau projected the water levels could keep declining, before reaching the low point of 1,024.47. It then projects water levels will rise slightly at the beginning of 2024 to 1,029.90.

Although these are only estimates, the lake has been in a dire state for years, meaning it is likely that water levels will drop further than they already have in the coming year.