Midwestern Drought Causes Water Conservation

Live Science

Lake Mead falls to lowest level since Hoover Dam's construction as "apocalyptic" heatwave and drought hit parts of US.

Transcript

00:00This is it, this is the iconic Hoover Dam in all of its glory and wonderment.

00:08It was built as a monument to America's ascendancy, providing power and water in a country hungry

00:13for both.

00:14Yet this triumph of engineering risks becoming a monument to the global tragedy of environmental

00:21change as the reservoir which powers the Hoover Dam depletes.

00:29We're in the 22nd year of drought in the Colorado River Basin.

00:32Lake Mead is at 35% capacity and that means we have about 25% less ability to produce

00:39power.

00:41Nature displays its distress well.

00:43The white band is the watermark, vividly showing what the level was and what it has fallen to.

00:50This reservoir, which supplies the dam and 25 million people, is now at an all-time low.

01:00We will very likely be declaring shortage for the first time ever in the lower basin

01:05for the year 2022.

01:07The electricity for 8 million Americans is produced by the Hoover Dam, this vast site

01:13powered by Lake Mead.

01:15To protect electrical output, a shortage declaration would reduce the water supply to home supply.

01:21People need to conserve water in every way that they can, in their homes, in their landscape.

01:28Rising temperatures offer huge challenges to the lake and the dam.

01:33Drought and climate change are the major problems here, but this year's super high temperatures

01:38mean that evaporation has reached record levels too.

01:42Enough water is lost every week from here to fill 15,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

01:54And water pressure on a depleting supply.

01:57The dam provides power to Las Vegas, America's power guzzling playground.

02:02It's the fastest warming city and in the driest state.

02:06With an expanding population and rising temperatures, conservation is all.

02:11Surprisingly, in terms of water at least, the strip is not the problem.

02:16Almost all of it here is recycled.

02:19Here's some water right here.

02:21Wastage elsewhere is the real issue.

02:24This is water waste.

02:26Water waste investigator 7158.

02:27I have water coming through a brick wall from the backyard.

02:31Las Vegas is tackling that with round-the-clock patrols.

02:35Oh yeah, look at this.

02:37There are fines of up to $5,000 for water wastage.

02:40And I guess people would say this isn't a big deal, this is only a little bit of water.

02:44But this is cumulative effect.

02:46If you take this whole complex, there's thousands of gallons of water going out that main gate there.

02:53And this water will go into the storm drain system.

02:56It'll evaporate before it even hits the lake.

02:59So that's where the waste is from this.

03:02This is not recoverable.

03:05I have a spray and flow situation.

03:07These patrols are part of Las Vegas' attempt to protect the lake that so much of this city depends on.

03:13Water consumption is going down, but the lake is going down faster.

03:18It's sad.

03:20Every drop counts.

03:22A century ago, human ingenuity delivered a supply solution for America's West.

03:27Even greater ingenuity will be needed to ensure this wonder of the past has a place in the future.

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