Colorado River Reservoirs Likely Near Record Lows By Late September - 48%
Reservoirs that store water along the Colorado River are projected to be less than half full later this year, potentially marking a historic low mark for the river system that supplies water to seven U.S. states and Mexico.
Forecasters with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation expect the river’s reservoirs -- Lakes Mead and Powell among them -- to be at a combined 48 percent of capacity by the end of September. That would be one of the lowest points ever for the combined water storage.
Without significant rainfall this summer and fall and above average snow this upcoming winter the combined reservoir storage could dip to 44 percent of capacity by April 2019 according to Reclamation models. The previous low point for total system water storage came after the two driest consecutive years in the watershed on April 1, 2014, when the river’s reservoirs were at 47 percent of capacity.
“We’re in uncharted territory for the system,” says Jeff Kightlinger, general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the water wholesaler for the greater Los Angeles area, which relies on the Colorado River for a portion of its supplies.
“Everything is new, and it is all bleak. None of it is positive,” Kightlinger says.
EDIT
http://www.kunc.org/post/colorado-river-reservoirs-expected-be-less-half-full-headed-toward-historic-low
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That makes sense.
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