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Lake Mead is the largest reservoir in the U.S. in terms of water capacity and was formed by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River in 1935. Lake Mead provides water to the states of Arizona, California and Nevada as well as some of Mexico, providing sustenance to nearly 20 million people and large areas of farmland, according to Wikipedia.

Lake Mead has been below its full capacity since 1983 as drought and increased demand for water have caused it to shrink. While Lake Mead receives water from Lake Powell via the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, Lake Powell is also at a historic low.

But the situation is looking bleak for Lake Mead after the Department of the Interior on Aug. 21 issued the 2027-2028 Operating Guidelines and the Record of Decision for the Post-2026 Colorado River Operations Final EIS. This established a 10-year Decision Framework with a broad operational range that will be used to develop future operational guidelines for Lake Powell and Lake Mead, according to the news release on the U.S. Department of the Interior website.

"Together these decisions provide for reliable operations of the Colorado River system, delivery of vital water supplies, and protect critical federal infrastructure while preserving the flexibility necessary to respond to Basin states' voluntary actions, consensus recommendations and the continued prolonged drought. The combined contents of Lake Powell and Lake Mead have not been this low since before Lake Powell began filling following the closure of the gates at Glen Canyon Dam in 1963, with both Lake Powell and Lake Mead hitting record lows the last few weeks," noted in the news release. Here is a link to the full decision: https://www.doi.gov/….

According to KLAS 8 News Now in Las Vegas, "Lake Mead will lose about 17% of its Colorado River allocation under water shortage conditions released Aug. 21 by the federal government. That cut will last for two years and will kick in on Jan. 1, 2027. Given the focus will now be on Lake Powell, that will have devastating implications for Lake Mead going forward. With less water flowing in from Lake Powell, power production at Hoover Dam will drop significantly and the reservoir will drop to levels that were hard to imagine just a few years ago."

A news release from the Glen Canyon Institute to KLAS 8 said: "By robbing Mead to pay Powell, the new operations will cut Hoover Dam hydropower capacity by over 900 Megawatts while preserving roughly 700 Megawatts of hydropower at Glen Canyon Dam, a net loss to the grid."

KLAS 8 added, "The clear intent of the federal government's plan is to place a priority on Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Dam. Lake Mead's level will no longer be the only factor in determining the severity of a federal water shortage. Instead, the plan released on Friday intends to take more into account."

The first bullet point in the 2027-28 operating guidelines is specific: "Provide objective criteria to determine releases from Lake Powell based on actual hydrology and maintaining a minimum elevation of 3,510 feet to support continued operational reliability at Glen Canyon Dam." Here is a link to the entire article posted on the KLAS 8 website: https://www.8newsnow.com/….

Mary Kennedy can be reached at mary.kennedy@dtn.com

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