Federal government announces first-ever water shortage in Lake Mead, Colorado River
(Worthy News) – The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced the first shortage declaration for Lake Mead and the lower Colorado River Basin in its history, triggering cuts to individual states’ water allocations beginning in January.
After an inordinately dry spring, the river’s Upper Basin saw runoff into Lake Powell that was just over a quarter of average runoff. Projected rates for unregulated inflow into Lake Powell — that is, the amount that without storage behind Glen Canyon Dam would have flowed into Lake Mead — is around 32 percent of the average.
Overall, the bureau said, total system storage for the Colorado River is at 40 percent capacity, a decline of 49 percent from this point in 2020. [ Source: The Hill (Read More…) ]
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