Lake Mead’s water level continues to fall as prolonged drought, below-average snowpack, extreme heat and heavy demand on the Colorado River strain one of the Southwest’s most important reservoirs. The lake is now just inches above a record-low elevation, raising renewed concerns about long-term water supplies. Meteorologist Dana Wagner says Nevada receives the smallest allocation among the Lower Basin states under the 1922 Colorado River Compact. The agreement divides the river’s water between the Upper Basin states of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, and the Lower Basin states of Nevada, Arizona and California. Under the compact, Nevada is allocated just four percent of the Lower Basin’s share, compared with 37 percent for Arizona and 59 percent for California. As negotiations over future water use remain stalled, the federal government is taking a larger role in determining how much water each of the seven Colorado River Basin states will ultimately receive in the years ahead.
