Latest news with #JohnBerggren
Newsweek
30-05-2025
- Climate
- Newsweek
Lake Mead Warning Issued: 'On a Knife's Edge'
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A warning has been issued over low water levels at Lake Mead and Lake Powell, with advocates saying the Colorado River Basin is "on a knife's edge." Dry conditions and disappointing runoff from winter snowpack have sharply reduced the Colorado River's flow, straining a vital water supply for millions across the American Southwest. Why It Matters Lake Mead is a vital water source for millions of people across Nevada, Arizona, California, and parts of Mexico. Its declining levels could potentially jeopardize municipal water supplies, agricultural irrigation, and hydroelectric power generation. A ferry boat passes Rock Island rises on Lake Mead along the Colorado River on March 14, 2025 in Boulder City, Nevada. A ferry boat passes Rock Island rises on Lake Mead along the Colorado River on March 14, 2025 in Boulder City, To Know As of May 30, Lake Mead's water level measured 1,057.43 feet mean sea level (MSL), 171.57 feet below its full pool of 1,229. Lake Powell was at 3,558.92 feet MSL, 141.08 feet below its full pool of 3,700 feet, according to Lakes Online, an online resource for lake and reservoir information. The levels, combined with disappointing snowmelts, have raised the prospect of deeper shortages and cutbacks in water deliveries in the years ahead, according to the Los Angeles Times. John Berggren, the regional policy manager for the nonprofit group Western Resource Advocates, told the paper, "Increasing temperatures in recent decades are having a real impact on runoff." "It's something that, unfortunately, we're going to see more and more of, where you need well above average snowpack to come somewhere close to average runoff because of the warming temperatures," he continued. "We're kind of on a knife's edge between being OK and being in very scary, catastrophic situations," Berggren added. Lake Mead is the largest reservoir in the U.S., with a capacity of nearly 29 million acre-feet of water. It is followed closely by Lake Powell, which can hold some 26 million acre-feet. Lake Mead, which receives flows from Lake Powell, hit critically low levels during the summer of 2022 following years of drought. Levels have somewhat recovered since. What People Are Saying Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA, told the Los Angeles Times: "This is another year that is not going to help the Colorado basin's long-term water crisis. It's going to make things worse. This year will once again be putting more stress on the Colorado system." Kyle Roerink, executive director of the Great Basin Water Network, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal previously: "It's going to be a painful summer, watching the levels go down. We're getting to those dangerous levels we saw a few years ago." "These types of runoff conditions make water managers nervous. They make NGOs nervous, and they certainly make water users nervous." What Happens Next An earlier study from UCLA and the Natural Resources Defense Council suggested that raising wastewater recycling to 40 percent in the Colorado Basin could conserve nearly 900,000 acre-feet annually, potentially supplying nearly two million households.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Speedboat re-emerges at Lake Mead, a reminder summer's dropping water levels
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Like a ghost of summers gone by, a speedboat sticking out of the bottom of Lake Mead is back to remind Las Vegas of what could be next for our water supply. Protruding about 8 feet above the lake's surface, the boat still has about 14 feet to show. We last saw it in all its glory in August 2022, rising from the lakebed and earning names like 'Lake Mead monolith' and 'the vertical speedboat.' It became a landmark, or watermark, if you will. Now, it's not in the public eye much. The National Park Service closed Government Wash to vehicle traffic last summer after campers turned into long-term residents and trash started to build up. Photos taken by boaters pop up occasionally on social media. A report released today shows water levels will continue to drop at Lake Mead through the end of July, but only about 6 feet below where they are now. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's 24-month study shows the lake surface at 1,053.62 feet above sea level by the end of July before rebounding through February 2026, rising 8 feet to 1,061.30 feet. The lake is at 1,059.56 feet as of noon Thursday. Even if Lake Mead won't drop to its 2021 and 2022 levels this year, the news isn't uplifting. Reclamation's projections today seem to defy reports that streamflow into Lake Powell is expected to be about 55% of average, even though snowpack levels reached a peak of 91% on April 8. But looking further into the future, Lake Mead is expected to keep going lower in 2026. Some of the lowest levels that show up in the projections: 1,047.80 — July 2026 1,046.87 — November 2026 1,048.40 — December 2026 1,047.40 — April 2027 Those figures, and particularly the December number, could have serious implications. In August, the Bureau of Reclamation uses Lake Mead's level to set water shortage restrictions that apply to Nevada, Arizona and California. Currently, we're under Tier 1 water restrictions. If Lake Mead is projected to be below 1,050 feet when Reclamation reports in August, states would lose some of their water allocations. 'We're not talking about dead pool this year,' John Berggren of Western Resource Advocates said earlier this week. Dead pool is at 895 feet, when water behind the dam drops lower than pipes used to let water out to flow downstream. When we spoke with Berggren about a month ago, streamflow projections showed Lake Powell inflow at 67%, but it had dropped from 74% projected just two weeks earlier. Now, that number is 55%. For Berggren, the statistics are most concerning because the federal government needs a plan when the current Colorado River guidelines expire. If a new plan isn't in place, rules will revert to a century-old document called the Colorado River Compact — commonly called 'The Law of the River.' What we need, he said, is a plan that is robust enough to account for the reality of a Colorado River that simply has less water than it did when those rules were written 100 years ago. Even the most recent guidelines adopted in 2007 were woefully inadequate to deal with drought conditions that began in 2000 and don't appear to be ending anytime soon. It's not a temporary problem, Berggren said. It demands a long-term fix. About 90% of the water used in Southern Nevada comes from Lake Mead, sucked out through an intake at the bottom of the lake. The majority of the water that comes down the river into Lake Mead belongs to California, which has senior water rights under the Law of the River. On July 27, 2022 — only about three years ago — Lake Mead reached its lowest point since it was filled in the 1930s, dropping to 1,041.71 feet. A wet winter in 2023 helped refill lakes Mead and Powell, the biggest and second-biggest reservoirs in the U.S., after they had dropped to about a fourth of their capacity. Now, Lake Mead is 32% full and Lake Powell is 33% full. The speedboat has been almost like a gauge that tells everyone if the lake is rising or falling. It's a little easier to read than the 'bathtub ring' at Lake Mead that is now somewhere near 170 feet tall. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Colorado River snowpack takes major dive; streamflow projections lowered
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A late-season rollercoaster ride this year turned into a steep decline for snowpack levels that feed the Colorado River. Since April 9, when snowstorms pushed snowpack from 91% to just over 100% in a single day, conditions have changed dramatically and levels have fallen to 70% of normal as of Friday, April 18. That's concerning for 40 million people who rely on the river for water. The black line in the graph below shows this year's snowpack levels, or more technically, snow water equivalent (SWE) levels, in the Upper Colorado River Basin. Projections from the federal government have been adjusted, showing less water flowing into Lake Powell, the nation's second-largest reservoir. Streamflow at Lake Powell is now expected to be about two-thirds of normal this year (67%). Just two weeks ago, projections showed it would be about three-fourths of normal (74%). The one-day flirtation with normal snowpack levels is a distant memory now. And all of that is happening before water gets as far as Lake Mead — the nation's largest reservoir, where Southern Nevada gets 90% of its water. APRIL 4 REPORT: Snowpack at 90% of normal as 'lean' year projected for Southern Nevada 'This has been another — unfortunately — classic year of the impact of climate change where high up in the Rocky Mountains in the headwaters of the Colorado River, you have slightly below average or average snowpack, which seems good on paper,' John Berggren, regional policy manager for Western Resource Advocates, said on Wednesday. 'But for a variety of reasons, that's not translating to average runoff for the Colorado River,' he said. Berggren, based in Boulder, Colorado, has been studying water conditions in the West for 15 years. He has a Ph.D. in water policy and leads Colorado River work for the nonprofit. While the steep plunge in snowpack is troubling, there's something else on Berggren's mind: There's no agreement in place yet for how the river will be managed when guidelines expire next year. The last major development in that process came on March 7, when officials from lower basin states (Nevada, Arizona and California) urged the Trump administration to set aside a decision by the outgoing Biden administration. Water officials said the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation made a mistake by not including an option that would consider infrastructure changes at Glen Canyon Dam. 'I don't think decision makers are seriously considering enough, the fact that Glen Canyon Dam needs to be completely re-engineered,' Eric Balken, executive director of the nonprofit Glen Canyon Institute, said in an April interview. If the surface of Lake Powell drops below 3,490 feet above sea level, the dam would be incapable of releasing enough water to meet requirements under the Colorado River Compact, commonly referred to as the 'Law of the River,' according to an analysis released in 2022. Lake Powell is currently 33% full, at 3,558 feet. Projections indicate the reservoir's low point over the next two years will be about 3,549 feet. That's about 33 feet below it's projected high point of 3,581 feet. The federal government has not replied publicly to the states' request for a 'do-over.' 'Unfortunately, politics gets involved and each upper and lower basin states have their negotiating positions. But we all here in the West rely on this river,' Berggren said. 'You're downstream, we're upstream, we all rely on this river, and so not having an agreement is a big challenge and potentially harms the river and the people who rely on it,' he said. 'We need the states to come together, we need them to agree, need them to find compromise, find ways to reach an agreement where we can all move forward with a healthy flowing Colorado River,' Berggren said. A report released April 15 by the Bureau of Reclamation shows only slight adjustments to expected reservoir levels over the next two years despite the expected reduction in streamflow. But rewinding to 2024, the projections are quite different from reality. (Below, pages from the Bureau's 24-month study showing projections for Lake Mead and Lake Powell) The typical low-water mark for Lake Mead comes in July each year. For this year, that's expected to be 1,053.58 feet. A year ago, the projected level for July 2025 was 1,048.24 feet, so the lake is now expected to be more than 5 feet higher than projections from last year. Projections for Lake Powell are not as optimistic. Lake Powell's low-water mark typically comes in April, just before spring runoff begins and reservoirs build up. For this year, that's expected to be 1,062.68 feet — about 9 feet lower than projections from last year (3571.24 feet). Getting nervous about lake levels isn't going to solve anything, but inaction could be a far more damaging course. Berggren echoed comments that have been provided some motivation for leaders to get ahead of the decision before it's too late. 'There is almost universal agreement that litigation should be the last resort by all means. If the states can't reach an agreement, and this thing ends up in the Supreme Court, you're looking at maybe a decade or longer for the Supreme Court to make a decision,' Berggren said. 'And who knows … the only thing we know from that decision is there will be winners and losers, and we don't know who the winners and losers would be. So it's a huge risk to the states, it's a risk to water users, it's incredibly expensive, incredibly time-intensive process to potentially not know where you're going to end up,' he said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
