This might be an ongoing issue and I think it deserves it's own topic. Please feel free to contribute to this dynamic subject.

Strangely enough, The New York Times had a great article this week on water levels of the Colorado River and it's impact on Lake Powell, Lake Mead, southern California, and the other states involved.

What I found interesting is that Lake Mead is 15 inches from the all time low of 1083.2 set in 1956. That puts the lake about 34 feet from the 1050 level where they may not be able to use the turbines in generator stations at Hoover Dam to generate electricity. But before that happens, the 1075 mark is where a federal Bureau of Reclamations plan would cut water distribution to Arizona and Nevada. The plan also allows preventative measures to keep us away from that mark by releasing 40% more water from Lake Powell to feed Lake Mead. That could bring Lake Mead up to approx 1100 feet. A new pipeline has been started that will draw water for Las Vegas with levels as low as 1000

Other fun facts I have found is that Lake Mead capacity is at 1229 feet. Average is 1173. Drought is 1150.
The lake was above 1220 briefly in 1983. It was above 1215 between 1997 and 2000, and has pretty much been on the decline ever since.

The New York Times article can be found at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/us/28mead.html

Great info, JMT. I think this will read a bit easier. Thanks....

Lake Mead Depth Facts.... Thanks to JMT

QUESTION:Many reports say that the the maximum depth of Lake Mead is 590 FT. Can you explain this discrepancy, JMT? Are the following figures measured from sea level?

Note: All depths are shown as "feet above sea level"


1,229.0 .....Lake Mead capacity
1173.0 ..... Average depth of Lake Mead
1,083,2 ..... All time low (1956)
1,098.2 ..... Depth at time above information was obtained
1,220.0 ..... The lake was above this figure a short time in 1983
1,215.0 ..... The lake was above this figure 1997 - 2000.
1,075.0 ..... Bureau Of Reclamation reduces water to Arizona and Nevada
1,100.0 ..... If 40% more water is releeased from Lake Powell
1,050.0 ,,,,. Turbines at Hoover Dam become unusable. Drought.
1,100.0 ..... New Pipeline to deliver water to LV

Interesting to note that the today's lake depth is not listed.

The lake has been declining since 2001.

Yes, it is above sea level numbers.

At the time the NYT article was written we were 15 inches from the all time low. That would have made it about 1098 ft above sea level.

Thanks, JMT. Corrections to my post are made.

PS> I got invited to the Bypass Bridge opening on the 15 of this month but may not attend due to the expansive crowds that are expected. Only foot traffic will be allowed over the bridge that day.

Latest .... According to http://www.arachnoid.com/NaturalResources/

Lake Mead water level was about 1,215 feet above sea level at the start of the year 2000.

Lake Mead water level was about 1,100 feet above sea level at the start of the year 2010.

That’s a 130 foot drop in the past 10 years or approximately 13 feet per year.

That’s a big loss of water especially if you have seen the lake recently. It looks a lot different today than it did when I first put my boat on it ten years ago.

In fact the harbor isn’t even there no more! It simply dried up!

Interesting to note that in 2008 scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography predicted that there is a 50% probability that Lake Mead will be completely dry by 2021 due to climate change and the unsustainable overuse of Colorado River water.

But other scientists disagree and claim otherwise.

But the big surprise to me is that no one in Las Vegas appears to be ‘overly’ concerned one way or another.

Back in the 60’s almost every table in Las Vegas had a little sign asking the out of towners to conserve drinking water and take quick showers.

I see nothing like that today.

I suspect part of the lack of concern is that there has been continuous environmentalist desire to get rid of the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell. If the surface evaporation of Lake Powell was eliminated there would be more water to fill Lake Mead.

The other part is tied to politics. The level of Lake Mead is heavily influenced by the draw for California agriculture. While historically they get their water first, there is probably a realization that if Las Vegas was truly out of water, they could buy out the farmers and get the water.

Thanks, E&AE ..... Interesting and new thoughts to contemplate on this interesting subject.

I sort of, kind of recall that there was a major fight over the construction of the Glen Canyon Damn mainly due to the lost of ancient history and artifacts that Lake Powell covered up, but this is the first time I heard of the 'water evaporation problem'.

I assume that water does not evaporate while it is flowing? Or simply evaporates less than water standing still?

And if and when it does evaporate, doesn't it eventually come back down?

That's something I never even thought about until you mentioned it.

Thanks! New stuff to worry about.

Regarding your statement that "California gets their water first"........

I seem to recall that the Colorado River flows in the other direction leaving California downstream from all the other states through which it flows.

So that would leave California as 'low man on the totem pole" if I'm correct.

And Mexico only gets a drop or two.... if they manage to get any at all.

Do you mean that California has a higher claim on the Colorado water flow than the other states?

I believe the first draw of water from the Colorado due to construction was between 1910 and 1920 and was in California. When the Bureau of Reclamation was created, the legal structure called for a rule where the first claimants get all they want and everyone else gets a share in order of claim. The geographic position does not matter.
This rule was slightly modified during the 30's when they realized that the Colorado did not have enough flow to cover all the claims. There was some big commission that tried to match the state by state allocation to the actual amount available. Unfortunately, it turns out that the flow of the Colorado in the 20's and 30's was the highest in the past several centuries so they handed out more rights than the long term supply. Part of this was offset by the actual performance of the various dams which prevent any water flow into the ocean during wet years.
Water evaporates whether it is flowing or whether it is sitting but all other things being equal (temperature, humidity, air pressure) the loss is proportional to surface area so putting all the water in one deep lake saves evaporation compared to several shallow lakes.
In practical political terms, California has too big a congressional delegation to take away their water priority rights. However, a lot goes to agricultural uses that are not as valuable as municipal uses and the original claimants have a right to sell their water.

WOW! Thanks E&E. I find this very interesting and informative and had no idea about 'first claimants' rights' and now I'm interested enough to learn more.

Is there a book written on this subject? Or a web site explaining the history of the Colorado River water rights and present day difficulties?

I was always under the opinion that the states thru which the river passes had a proportional share of that water based on need and as approved by some River Water Commission. But even then I never gave it any great thought.

Does any of this water ever reach Mexico? Where does it end and does it end in the form of a puddle? ..... Serious questions by the way.

I plan to do some research tonite. But first .... a glass of ice cold water which I have to assume was part of that river just a few days ago.

Many years ago I did read Cadillac Desert, but I think that story was about water from another source just east of the High SIerrra and how Southern California stold it.

We officially hit the all time low even with rain all week. We're now about 30 feet before the intake towers stop powering the turbines. Certain measures should prevent or put a serious delay on that happening.

The shot of the lake on the front page of the LVRJ was worth noting and a beautiful photo.

JMT, do you have any idea on what those "certain measures' may be besides releasing more water from further up north? Lake Powell?

I still have not had a chance to read the LVRJ story.

I don't read the RJ and give them as little publicity as possible because they sue people for referencing them. I put a link to a NY Times article that goes through the "certain measures" deeper than I know off the top of my head.

6 days of steady rain produced record rainfall in many parts of the area. This dumped nearly 500 million gallons of water into Lake Mead through direct rain and runoff. This should raise the water level in the lake nearly a quarter of an inch. We need about 3.5 trillion gallons to bring the lake up the 130 feet that it needs. Fortunately, that probably wont come from rain. The Colorado River gets about 85% of it's flow from snow melt off the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Many past years have had low snow pack. So far, western slope snowpack is almost 150% of normal.

Also, the US in in talks with Mexico about storing some of their Colorado River allocation in Lake Mead. Mexico was rocked with a big earthquake in April that damaged many of their reservoirs and canals that are important for their irrigation. As a result, they are unable to utilize their river allocation. Mexico is allocated about 5 times as much of the river as Nevada.

The US Bureau of Reclamation has a website (http://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/g1000/lawofrvr.html) that has all the agreements pertaining to the allocation of the Colorado water.

Presumably due to either low population or incompetent negotiators the share of the water that Nevada gets from the original 1922 compact is tiny compared to California and Arizona.

I recently relocated to the Phoenix area. I just finished school to get my real estate brokers license. One of my 4 hour classes was on water rights. It was explained to us that California, Arizona, and Nevada had long fights about who would get how much water. Not too many years ago the Federal Government told the three states to get together and come up with an agreement or the Federal govt would do it for them. I just looked at my notes and see I didn't write down the percentages but I remember that California does get the most water because they have the most agriculture.

One thing Eric and Ellen refered to is called Prior Appropriation which is; 1st in time, 1st in right.

Jeff - Nice to hear from you. I'll bet you're not missing the cold and snow of Columbus. I hope you and your family are doing well!

Thanks Mike.

We're actually supposed to have a couple nights in the 20's later this week....but still way better than Ohio. Spent Christmas afternoon in the sun by the pool, low 70's.

Going to be interesting to see what this does to my desire to go to Vegas. Part of my interest had always been just going to the desert.

It's been a nice wet winter in the western slopes of the Rockies which is where much of the Colorado River comes from. Officials say Lake Mead could see a RISE in water levels of about 20 feet in the next 10 months or so.

Lake Powell is required to send at least 8.23 million acre feet of water downstream to Lake Mead. This year, the plan is to send 11.52 million acre feet of water to Lake Mead.

This is really good news. While a 20 foot rise in water levels is a very small percentage of the amount needed to get to capacity, it beats the heck out of another year where the water level goes down, inching it's way to drastic measures.

It starts at 8.23 million acre feet, It has jumped up to 10, 11.52, and now it's 12.5 and might get higher as spring time isn't quite over. Officially the number is 12.46 million acre feet, but that is subject to change.

A strong snow pack on the western Rockies is expected to send a lot of water down the Colorado River and other rivers that feed Lake Mead. Since the drought started, the Colorado has been flowing at about 69% of it's 100 year average. This year, it's flow is expected be 149%.

The Lake Powell release this season should raise the water level 32 feet by next February. There were concerns that Lake Powell would need to release more water than their generators could use to convert into electricity. That's why it's taking so long for the water level to come up. Otherwise, Lake Powell would have to bypass the generators to send the water downstream.

It is good news for those that live and work around Lake Mead, as well as for those that depend on the lake for drinking water or electricity. The marinas are not complaining about having to adjust the marina, roads, or utilities as the lake rises.