Lake Mead plummets to unprecedented low, exposing original 1971 water intake valve

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6. Las Vegas turns on low-level Lake Mead pumps designed to avoid a 'Day Zero'

https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/las-vegas-turns-on-low-level-lake-mead-pumps-designed-to-avoid-a-day-zero

Las Vegas turns on low-level Lake Mead pumps designed to avoid a ‘Day Zero’
Daniel Rothberg
April 27th, 2022 at 2:00 AM

The country’s largest man-made reservoir, Lake Mead, has dropped to such a historically low level that Las Vegas water officials have completed the process of turning on a pump station that will allow Southern Nevada to retrieve water, even under extreme conditions.

The move — to turn on the pump station full bore — is an indication of how low Lake Mead has fallen over the past decade and serves as a bulwark against the possibility of Las Vegas losing physical access to its water as regional issues on the Colorado River become increasingly dire.

Without Las Vegas’ roughly $1.5 billion Lake Mead infrastructure in place, some water experts say the seven U.S. states that rely on the Colorado River would be facing even harder choices and an even more nerve-wracking situation than the shortage crisis that is playing out.

Lake Mead is about 30 percent full, and the amount of water stored at the reservoir has ticked down over the last month. As of Tuesday, Lake Mead’s elevation sat at about 1,056 feet above sea level, roughly 163 feet below the reservoir's maximum capacity.

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