Ninety years after the Hoover Dam was first approved, its reservoirs are at an all-time low due to the drought in the western United States.
In April 1931, contracts were signed with six companies to build the dam, according to Patti Aaron, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s Lower Colorado area foreign affairs officer. The first cement was poured two years later, and construction was completed later that decade – despite the global economic crisis.
Ninety years later, photos of sinking water levels at the Hoover Dam’s Lake Mead Reservoir have baffled manyAmericans, and an estimated 81 million people had experienced the effects by the end of June, according to the National Integrated Drought Information System of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Drought.
Lake Mead is the country’s largest reservoir and store of water in several major cities in Arizona, California, and Nevada.
“Right now we are at the lowest level in the reservoir since it was filled in the 1930s,” said Aaron Tekk.tv.
The water level at Lake Mead fell to 1,071.56 feet above sea level in early June, according to Reuters, a new record at the time.
Until this month.
According to a July 6 report by the US Bureau of Reclamation, Lake Mead’s water level has since dropped to 1,068.55 feet above sea level, filling the reservoir about 35%.
The reservoir’s water level is “lower than anyone has almost seen in their life,” said Aaron.
Drought is expected to persist through the summer, raising concerns about the area’s available water supplies, and cuts have already begun to affect agricultural production in some parts of California.
In addition to water supply concerns, falling water levels in U.S. reservoirs and lakes also raise concerns about water-generated electricity. The Hoover Power Plant, which distributes hydropower to Arizona, California, and Nevada, has decreased efficiency by approximately 25%.
Although the photos of low water levels have alarmed many and the drought is expected to dry up further, Aaron said the Bureau of Reclamation has a strategy in the region over the coming months to prevent water levels from reaching what they consider “critical” referred to, sinks.
“I think it’s important to know that we’re concerned, but that’s not unplanned,” said Aaron. “There are agreements and mechanisms in place to protect the reservoir from critical levels. So it is worrying, but not on a critical level. “
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