The Bureau of Reclamation has released the 2022 operating conditions for Lake Powell and Lake Mead.
Drought is causing both lakes to be at lower levels than normal, which is affecting irrigation for farms, hydropower and household water for millions in the West.
According to the Bureau, the majority of the flow for the Colorado River comes from the upper portions of the Colorado River Basin located in the Rocky Mountains. This spring, the upper basin was exceptionally dry, with runoff in Lake Powell reaching just 26% of the average runoff generally seen from April through July.
"Today, @usbr released its 2022 operating conditions for Lake Powell and Lake Mead. With news of worsening drought conditions, the bureau is committed to working with all partners in the basin and Mexico on the path ahead," the U.S. Department of the Interior wrote in an Aug. 16 Twitter post.
On Monday, Aug. 16, officials declared the first-ever water shortage from the Colorado River, which serves more that 40 million people in the West, NPR News reported.
“Like much of the West, and across our connected basins, the Colorado River is facing unprecedented and accelerating challenges,” said Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Tanya Trujillo, in a BOR press release. “The only way to address these challenges and climate change is to utilize the best available science and to work cooperatively across the landscapes and communities that rely on the Colorado River."
Lake Mead, formed by the Hoover Dam in the 1930s, supplies hydropower, irrigation for farms and household water for New Mexico, California, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming and parts of Mexico.
Water from three reservoirs in New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming have been drained to maintain water levels at Lake Powell in an effort to protect the electric grid powered by the Glen Canyon Dam.
