Unprecedented #water decline
Two major #US #reservoirs are at record lows, careening toward a point where they will no longer be able to meet the #power needs for millions of people
#LakePowell, the 2nd-largest reservoir in the US, provides water & #electricity to millions in the West. It has now has shrunk to its lowest level on record, in the latest sign of the alarming crisis unfolding on the #drought stricken #ColoradoRiver.
#ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #USpolicy
https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/16/climate/lake-powell-reservoir-record-low-colorado-river
The reservoir’s levels dropped to 3519.91 feet on Saturday, breaking the record low of 3,519.92 feet set in April 2023, acc/to data from the US Bureau of Reclamation published Sunday. It is now just under 30 feet away from the point at which its dam will no longer be able to generate #hydropower.
The record comes 9 days after downstream #LakeMead, the US’ biggest #reservoir, dropped to its lowest level since it was first filled 9 decades ago.
“We are in uncharted territory,” said Jack Schmidt, director of the Center for #ColoradoRiver Studies at Utah State University.
Lakes Mead & Powell, which are essentially one gigantic #reservoir separated by the Grand Canyon, hold just under 60% of the total #water currently stored in the Colorado River basin. The unprecedented decline of these vast bodies of water, which have been shrinking for >20 years, drives home the perilous state of the river that feeds them.
The lifeblood of the Southwest, the #ColoradoRiver starts in the Rocky Mountains, fed by melting snowpack, & ends in the Gulf of California in Mexico. It provides #water to roughly 40 million people & irrigates >5 million acres of #farmland across 7 states: California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Wyoming, Colorado & Utah.
#ClimateChange fueled #drought & increases in temperature, combined with years of heavy water use, have caused the crucial waterway to shrink by roughly 20% since 2000.
…A major concern is the impact on #energy generation. The force of the #ColoradoRiver turns the Glen Canyon Dam’s 8 huge turbines, producing enough #electricity each year to #power nearly 500,000 households. It’s relied on by Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada & Nebraska.
The #reservoir could now be barreling toward “minimum power pool” — at 3,490 feet — when #water levels will be too low to spin the turbines & generate electricity.
Great video about the Lake Powell water level crisis 👇
Do data centers contribute to water shortage to a greater degree than human residential water usage?
