A shrinking Lake Powell could herald an even worse water crisis in the Southwest's future

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A shrinking Lake Powell could herald an even worse water crisis in the Southwest's future
As climate change dries the Colorado River Basin, the region's megacities may eventually dry up, too

By MATTHEW ROZSA
Staff Writer
PUBLISHED AUGUST 29, 2022 5:03PM


(Salon) As climate change worsens, Americans who live in the Southwest will be hit very, very hard: experts predict that large cities like Phoenix and Las Vegas are going to be uninhabitable within decades, as will the surrounding metropolitan areas in their home states of Arizona and Nevada. Those regions are expected to overheat, like an oven with a temperature that constantly rises; by contrast, as the water cycle intensifies, there is apt to be more flash floods like the ones which already occurred in St. Louis, Mo. and throughout the state of Kentucky.

Already, there are some omens pointing to the Southwest's harsh future: in particular, Lake Powell, the second largest artificial reservoir in the United States, at least, in terms of its maximum water capacity. Connected to the Colorado River, Lake Powell provides water and electricity (through hydroelectric power) to 4 to 5 million acres of southwestern farmland, the metropolitan areas of Phoenix and Las Vegas, and the Los Angeles and San Diego metropolises — the two largest metropolitan areas of southern California.

That is why experts are so concerned by the news that Lake Powell is shrinking. As of late August, Lake Powell is filled to only 26 percent of its capacity, the smallest it has been since 1967. Just as sobering, nearby Lake Mead is only at 28 percent of its capacity, while the Colorado River system is only at 34 percent.

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The undersupply of water is going to have a dire effect on the roughly 60 million people who inhabit that part of the country. According to Ali S. Akanda, an associate professor and graduate director of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Rhode Island, the situation has already affected Lake Powell's appeal as a tourist and recreational site — "for example, the Grand Canyon National Park and the famous river exploration activities are all dependent on water releases from Lake Powell." But that is just the tip of the iceberg.

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"A drying Lake Powell will also mean the downstream users in Arizona and Mexico will have no more water flowing from the upstream," Akanda told Salon, adding that Los Angeles gets approximately 20% of its water from the Lake Powell region. This will have a negative effect on "agriculture, power production, fisheries and ecosystems across the southern part of the Colorado basin," Akanda noted. ...........(more)

https://www.salon.com/2022/08/29/a-shrinking-lake-powell-could-herald-an-even-worse-water-in-the-southwests-future/