Hoover Dam's Water Falls To Lowest Level Ever As Drought Continues

The Hoover Dam's water falls to its lowest level EVER as California's mega-drought puts more than two million people under emergency ratio

GINA MARTINEZ FOR DAILYMAIL.COM and REUTERS

The water level of Lake Mead at the Hoover Dam is set to meet its lowest level on record as California's megadrought leave millions under emergency rations.  

On Thursday, Lake Mead's water level is projected to hit elevation 1,071.61 feet, sinking to it's lowest elevation on record since the 1930's, said a Bureau of Reclamation spokeswoman.

Thursday's level is about four feet below the level that would trigger a federal declaration of a water shortage which would cut water supplies to Arizona, Nevada and Mexico.

Arizona could have its supply cut by 320,000 acre-feet, Aaron said. That is a year's supply for nearly 1 million households, according to the Arizona Department of Water Resources.

Lake Mead, formed in the 1930s from the damming of the Colorado River at the Nevada-Arizona border about 30 miles east of Las Vegas, is the largest reservoir in the United States.

It is crucial to the water supply of 25 million people including in the cities of Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Tucson and Las Vegas, Reuters reported.  

The Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam constructed in the 1930's in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, which provides drinking water to Arizona, Nevada, and part of Mexico.

The Dam generates electricity for parts of Arizona, California and Nevada and as the water in Lake Mead drops, so does the dam's electrical output. 

On average, the dam usually produces about 2,074 megawatts, which is enough electricity for about 8 million people, according to the Western Area Power Administration. 

Tuesday's capacity was just 1,567 megawatts, a drop of about 25 percent, CNN reported. 

'Every foot of lake level decline means about 6 (megawatt) of lost capacity,' Aaron told CNN. 

Aaron added that while the lake's water level is expected to reach a new lows this week, its excepted to continue dropping. 

'We anticipate the elevation of Lake Mead to continue to decline until November 2021,' Aaron said. 

The drought that has brought Lake Mead low has gripped California, the Pacific Northwest, the Great Basin spanning Nevada, Oregon and Utah, plus the southwestern states of Arizona and New Mexico and even part of the Northern Plains.

The latest data from the U.S. Drought Monitor released on Thursday showed that more than half of the western U.S. is either in an 'extreme' or 'exceptional drought.' 

More...