Lake Mead water level is at a critical low. The American icon, as they say, is under a siege. Lake Mead water level, a lake of which has America's largest man-made reservoir when full, hasn't been anywhere near full since 1983.
According to news.com.au, Lake Mead sits behind the Hoover Dam. An architectural megaproject built in the 1930s depression era, it was reportedly the largest dam ever built. Unfortunately, Lake Mead water level is now below 40 per cent capacity, mainly due to the American southwest's 14-year drought.
The Huffington Post reports that Lake Mead water level dropped to its lowest last week since the reservoir was filled during its completion of the Hoover Dam in the 1930s. However, because of the Southwest's drought for the past 14 years, waters have been down more than 130 feet since 2000 where a high-water mark was last reached.
Because Lake Mead water level has dropped drastically, Las Vegas is also at risk, since 90 per cent of the desert city water has been depending on the reservoir. According to news.com.au, Vegas is now in danger of completely running out of water in future years. Its 2 million residents, casinos, megaresorts, golf courses and suburbs, are threatened because of the current Lake Mead water level.
According to the Bureau of Reclamation, an ongoing might now force them to declare a shortage by 2017. This shortage from the drop in the Lake Mead water level could reportedly affect ultimately the more than 40 million relying on it for water.
Photos have been going around the internet of the alarming state of the United State's largest reservoir, now only a reported 39 percent full.
Lake Mead water level has affected countless areas near and far.
Some photos show empty boat slips protruding from the dock at an abandoned Echo Bay Marina on Jul. 13, 2014 in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada. According to the Huff Post, the marina closed a year ago after since there were no businesses that wanted to operate it. The National Park Service said that this was in part due to the falling Lake Mead water level.
Reports say that the 14-year drought in the Southwestern United States plus the declining water supply from the Colorado River was caused in part by the cuts to the reservoir's annual water allocation from Lake Powell. Some photos show the area being left with a white "bathtub ring" of mineral deposits since higher water levels dropped around the rocks on the lake which used to be as high as 130 feet.
The declining Lake Mead water level is certainly grim. Because of it, marinas have closed, boat ramps and fish-cleaning huts are way above the waterline, and islands are already appearing from areas where there once was water.
The water levels on the lake which is on the border of Arizona and Nevada continues to drop as more water continues to get sucked away by the dry desert air and consumed by Nevada's population.
According to reports, Las Vegas water authorities will be completing an $800 million project called "the third straw" to address the problem of the alarming Lake Mead water level decrease. The project will reportedly provide a newer, deeper outlet in order to suck the water away into the pipelines if the water levels in the lake will drop further.
Lake Mead water level may be provided a solution with this "third straw" project. However, the real question is, what happens when the "third straw" doesn't work and it becomes the last straw for Las Vegas?
