CARSON CITY, Nevada (AP) – Artificial lakes that store water that supplies millions of people in the west and Mexico of the United States are expected to fall to historic lows in the coming months, to levels that could trigger the first federal government. never official declaration of scarcity and rapid cuts in Arizona and Nevada.
The U.S. Claims Office released 24-month projections this week that predicted that less water from the Colorado River would cascade down from the Rocky Mountains through Lake Powell and Lake Mead and into the arid deserts of the southwest. of the United States and the Gulf of California. Water levels at the two lakes are expected to drop low enough for the agency to declare an official shortage for the first time, threatening the Colorado River’s water supply on which growing cities and farms depend.
It occurs because climate change means that fewer rivers of snow flow into the river and its tributaries, and that warmer temperatures cause the earth to shorten and more water to evaporate from the river as it flows through the river. ‘Drought-plagued American West.
The Lake Mead agency’s model project will fall below 1,075 feet (328 meters) for the first time in June 2021. This is the level that causes a declaration of scarcity according to agreements negotiated by seven states that depend on the Colorado River water: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
April projections, however, will not have a binding impact. Federal officials regularly issue long-term projections, but use those published each August to make decisions about how to allocate river water. If projections do not improve by then, the Claims Office will declare a level 1 shortage condition. The cuts would be implemented in January.
Arizona, Nevada and Mexico have voluntarily given up water under a drought contingency plan for the river signed in 2019. A declaration of scarcity would subject the two U.S. states to their first mandatory reductions. Both rely on the Colorado River more than any other source of water, and Arizona will lose about a third of its supply.
Water agency officials say they are confident their preparedness measures, including conservation and the search for alternative sources, will allow them to withstand cuts if the drought continues as expected.
“The study, although significant, is not a surprise. It reflects the impacts of hot and dry conditions in the Colorado River Basin this year, as well as the effects of a prolonged drought that has affected the Colorado River’s water supply, “said officials from the Colorado Water Resources Department. Arizona and the Central Arizona Project. in a joint statement.
In Nevada, the agency that supplies water to most of the state has built “straws” to draw water from further down Lake Mead as its levels decline. It has also created a credit system where you can introduce recycled water into the reservoir without it being counted for allocation.
Colby Pellegrino, director of water resources for the Southern Nevada Water Authority, assured customers that these preparedness measures would isolate them from the effects of the cuts. But he warned that more action was needed.
“It’s up to all Colorado River users to find ways to conserve,” Pellegrino said in a statement.
The Bureau of Reclamation also projected that Lake Mead would fall to the point where they were concerned in the past that it could threaten power generation at the Hoover Dam. Hydropower serves millions of customers in Arizona, California and Nevada.
To prepare for a future with less water, the office has spent 10 years replacing parts of five of the dam’s 17 turbines that rotate to generate energy. Len Schilling, the office’s dam manager, said the addition of wide-head turbines allows the dam to operate more efficiently at lower water levels. He said the turbines will be able to generate energy almost to a point called a “deadpool” when there will not be enough water for the dam to work.
But Schilling noted that less water moving through the Hoover Dam means less hydraulic power to circulate.
“As the elevation decreases in the lake, so does our ability to produce energy because we have less water pushing the turbines,” he said.
Hydropower costs substantially less than the energy sold in the wholesale electricity market because the government only charges customers the cost of producing it and maintaining it.
Lincoln County Energy District General Manager Dave Luttrell said infrastructure upgrades, less hydropower from the Hoover Dam and additional energy from other sources such as natural gas raised costs and alarmed customers in his rural Nevada district.
“The rural economies of Arizona and Nevada live and die because of the hydraulic energy that is produced at the Hoover Dam. It may not be a big deal for NV Energy, “he said of Nevada’s greater utility.” It may be a decimal point in the Los Angeles Department of Water and Energy. But for Lincoln County, it adds a big impact. “
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