Historically low water level in two crucial US reservoirs threatens water and power for millions

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By Laura Paddison, CNN. 

Excerpt: The combined water level in two of the United States’ biggest reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead, has fallen to a historic low, in what experts are calling a significant moment in the Colorado River crisis — threatening a water system that supplies tens of millions. On July 12, Lake Powell was at 3,524 feet and Lake Mead was just under 1,043 feet, breaking a record set in March 2023, according to an analysis published by five Colorado River experts last week. Together, the two reservoirs haven’t been this low since 1957, during the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam, before Lake Powell even existed. ...The Colorado River is the lifeblood of the Southwest. It irrigates more than 5 million acres of farmland, generates enough electricity to power around 700,000 homes and provides water for 40 million people. ...The Colorado River has shrunk rapidly over the past 25 years as water demand has boomed and climate change has delivered hotter, drier weather and dwindling snow. Today, 95% of the basin is in drought. ...Lake Powell could fall so low by spring 2027 that it reaches “minimum power pool” level, meaning its dam will no longer be able to generate hydropower, according to a July report from the Bureau of Reclamation.... 

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