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Midwestern Drought Causes Water Conservation
Live Science
Follow
4/11/2025
Lake Mead falls to lowest level since Hoover Dam's construction as "apocalyptic" heatwave and drought hit parts of US.
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Tech
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00:00
this is it this is the iconic Hoover Dam in all of its glory and wonderment it was built as a
00:08
monument to America's ascendancy providing power and water in a country hungry for both yet this
00:15
triumph of engineering risks becoming a monument to the global tragedy of environmental change as
00:22
the reservoir which powers the Hoover Dam depletes we're in the 22nd year of drought in the Colorado
00:31
River Basin Lake Mead is at 35% capacity and that means we have about 25% less ability to produce
00:39
power nature displays its distress well the white band is the watermark vividly showing what the
00:47
level was and what it has fallen to this reservoir which supplies the dam and 25 million people is
00:54
now at an all-time low we will very likely be declaring shortage for the first time ever in
01:04
the lower Basin for the year 2022 the electricity for 8 million Americans is produced by the Hoover
01:11
Dam this vast site powered by Lake Mead to protect electrical output a shortage declaration would
01:18
reduce the water supply to homes and businesses people need to conserve water in every way that
01:25
they can in their homes in their landscape rising temperatures offer huge challenges to the lake
01:31
and the dam drought and climate change are the major problems here but this year's super high
01:37
temperatures mean that evaporation has reached record levels too enough water is lost every week from
01:44
here to fill 15,000 Olympic sized swimming pools and water pressure on a depleting supply the dam provides
01:57
power to Las Vegas America's power guzzling playground it's the fastest warming city and in the driest state
02:05
with an expanding population and rising temperatures conservation is all surprisingly in terms of
02:12
water at least the strip is not the problem almost all of it here is recycled here's some water right
02:19
here wastage elsewhere is the real issue this is water waste water waste investigator 7158 I have water
02:29
coming through a brick wall from the back Las Vegas is tackling that with round-the-clock patrols oh yeah
02:35
look at this there are fines of up to five thousand dollars for water wastage and I guess people would
02:41
say this isn't a big deal this is only a little bit of water but this is cumulative effect if you take this
02:46
whole complex there's all thousands of gallons of water there going out that that main gate there and this
02:53
water will go into the storm drain system it evaporate before it even hits the lake so that's where the
02:59
waste is from this if there's this is not recoverable I have a spray and flow situation these patrols are
03:08
part of Las Vegas's attempt to protect the lake that so much of this city depends on water consumption is
03:14
going down but the lake is going down faster it's sad every drop counts a century ago human ingenuity
03:24
delivered a supply solution for America's West even greater ingenuity will be needed to ensure this
03:30
wonder of the past has a place in the future
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