COCONINO COUNTY, Ariz. — Lake Mead will continue operating under the Level 1 Shortage conditions for the next year, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced Thursday.
The agency is projecting Lake Mead to have an elevation of about 1,062 feet in early January, which is 13 feet below the shortage determination trigger of 1,075 feet.
The determination essentially means the reservoir will remain under the same status it was in for 2024 and the following shortage reductions will be required:
- Arizona: 512,000 acre-feet of water, which is approximately 18% of the state’s annual apportionment.
- Nevada: 21,000 acre-feet of water, which is 7% of the state’s annual apportionment.
- Mexico: 80,000 acre-feet of water, which is approximately 5% of the country’s annual allotment.
An acre-foot of water is roughly enough to serve a couple of U.S. households in a year, according to the Associated Press.
"While the Colorado River System continues to face low reservoir storage with Lake Powell and Lake Mead at a combined storage of 37% of capacity, investments in infrastructure improvements and system conservation have helped stabilize the Colorado River System in the near term," the bureau wrote in a release.
In 2021, the water conditions for the Colorado River were so dire that the federal government declared a shortage and began initiating a series of water cuts.
The government implemented a tiered-level system for assessing Lake Mead's water levels and determining how much states would have to cut. In 2022, Lake Mead descended into the Level 2 tier before conditions improved enough for the lake to move back into Level 1.
Arizona, Nevada and California agreed last year to reduce an extra 3 million acre-feet of water until 2026.
*Editor's Note: The above video is from an earlier broadcast in 2021.*
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