Colorado River shortage looms amid scant snow and shrinking flows
The water level of Lake Mead, the country’s largest reservoir, has dropped more than 130 feet since the beginning of 2000, when the lake’s surface lapped at the spillway gates on Hoover Dam. Twenty-one years later, with the Colorado River consistently yielding less water as the climate has grown warmer and drier, the reservoir near Las Vegas sits at just 39% of capacity. … The river’s reservoirs are shrinking as the Southwest endures an especially severe bout of dryness within a two-decade drought intensified by climate change, one of the driest periods in centuries that shows no sign of letting up.
Related articles:
- The Food Institute: Is The U.S. Facing A Megadrought?
- CBS Denver: Colorado Weather: Drought Situation Improves For Northern Front Range