Dec 28, 2023 08:55 PM
https://www.newsweek.com/lake-mead-dryin...ht-1853663
EXCERPT: The Aral Sea used to be the fourth-largest lake in the world, but thanks to poor water management, the lake rapidly shrank over only a handful of decades—from larger than the entire state of West Virginia to only 10 percent of its original size.
[...] Lake Mead, situated on the Colorado River between Arizona and Nevada, has seen record-low water levels due to the drought conditions in the area, pushing the reservoir closer and closer to dead pool level, at which point the water will no longer flow out through the Hoover Dam. The lake provides water and hydroelectric power to over 25 million people in the surrounding states, but increased water demand is putting further pressure on the reservoir and the Colorado River.
"We have certainly seen declines in lake water level in Lake Mead in the last few decades in response to the long drought in the region. Last year was an exception, but it's not enough to fully refill the lake," Tamlin M. Pavelsky, an associate professor of global hydrology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, told Newsweek.
"So it's similar to the Aral Sea in that human water withdrawals and climate change are affecting its water levels substantially. However, it's also different in the sense that we can control how much water flows out of it and down the Colorado," he said.
"Lake Mead is different—it's a reservoir, and there is a river flowing in and flowing out. This makes the lake different from a closed lake in important ways, including that it's not salty," he said. "If you want a more perfect analog for the Aral Sea in the United States, I would look at the Great Salt Lake, where we have major declines in water level that are substantially affecting the area of the lake and the ecosystems that live in and around it."
So, while Lake Mead is at risk of further drops in water level—and is indeed forecast to hit lower levels than ever in 2025—it is unlikely to face quite the same fate as the Aral Sea... (MORE - missing details)
EXCERPT: The Aral Sea used to be the fourth-largest lake in the world, but thanks to poor water management, the lake rapidly shrank over only a handful of decades—from larger than the entire state of West Virginia to only 10 percent of its original size.
[...] Lake Mead, situated on the Colorado River between Arizona and Nevada, has seen record-low water levels due to the drought conditions in the area, pushing the reservoir closer and closer to dead pool level, at which point the water will no longer flow out through the Hoover Dam. The lake provides water and hydroelectric power to over 25 million people in the surrounding states, but increased water demand is putting further pressure on the reservoir and the Colorado River.
"We have certainly seen declines in lake water level in Lake Mead in the last few decades in response to the long drought in the region. Last year was an exception, but it's not enough to fully refill the lake," Tamlin M. Pavelsky, an associate professor of global hydrology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, told Newsweek.
"So it's similar to the Aral Sea in that human water withdrawals and climate change are affecting its water levels substantially. However, it's also different in the sense that we can control how much water flows out of it and down the Colorado," he said.
"Lake Mead is different—it's a reservoir, and there is a river flowing in and flowing out. This makes the lake different from a closed lake in important ways, including that it's not salty," he said. "If you want a more perfect analog for the Aral Sea in the United States, I would look at the Great Salt Lake, where we have major declines in water level that are substantially affecting the area of the lake and the ecosystems that live in and around it."
So, while Lake Mead is at risk of further drops in water level—and is indeed forecast to hit lower levels than ever in 2025—it is unlikely to face quite the same fate as the Aral Sea... (MORE - missing details)