In 2000, Lake Mead was filled with blue water at midnight and flooded the banks of the river that supplied it. But 20 years later, it has shrunk dramatically. And the basin is also lighter, almost turquoise in some places, a sign of increasingly shallow waters connected by very narrow canyons.
In this month’s new image, the lake is surrounded by wrinkled coastlines and white shadows, the so-called bathtub rings, and salt and mineral debris left on the walls of the canyon as water recedes.
“These reservoirs were surprisingly full 20 years ago,” said Jennifer Pitt, Colorado River Program Director of the National Audubon Association, referring to two large reservoirs on the Colorado River, Lake Mead and Lake Powell. The low levels of Lake Mead indicate dangerously low levels throughout the Colorado River basin. Today, the basin is “dangerously close to day-zero,” Pitt said when the reservoir dries.
Satellite images highlight how severe the drought in the southwest has become. Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States, is an important source of water for 25 million people in seven states and some of the country’s largest agricultural canyons.
In response to the growing crisis, the federal government has taken steps to protect the water in the Colorado River basin. Last summer, the federal government declared for the first time a water shortage on Lake Mead. In June, in response to the worsening situation, the Pioneer Department, which manages water and electricity in the west, issued an urgent request to the state to propose an immediate reduction in 2023 to prevent further falls of the reservoir. ..
According to a recent analysis of annual ring data, images taken by NASA’s Landsat program in 2000 and 2022 show the driest 20-year period since 800 AD.
Researchers have determined that anthropogenic global warming plays a role in the continuation of this current drought. This drought has been raining heavily over the last two decades and has continued for several years. One of the reasons may be that rising temperatures, rather than rain or snow conditions, are causing this drought.
The image of Lake Mead provides “a clear illustration of the worst possible climate change and long-term drought in the western United States in the 12th century.” NASA Written in the statement Attached to the image.
The lake’s water volume is only 27%, the lowest level since the reservoir was full in 1937. However, Mr. Pitt warned that the amount of water available downstream was much lower due to the “deadpool” that occurs when there is too much water in the reservoir. Low to pass through the dam.
Over the 20 years of separating these images, the lake’s water level measured at Hoover Dam dropped from 158 feet to 1,041 feet, the Department of Pioneering said. To keep the dam’s hydro turbine running, the lake level must be kept above 1,000 feet.
Reservoirs are usually replenished by snowmelt in the Rocky Mountains, which flows down the Colorado River basin. However, this year’s snowfall is below average.
Henry Fountain Contribution report.