Lake Mead at the Hoover Dam is the largest water reservoir in the US. New images from NASA satellites show that Lake Mead is not doing well. The images clearly show that the lake has shrunk since July 2000. (see pictures in original article below)
The lake is currently filled to only 27 percent capacity. It’s the lowest since 1937 when the lake was being filled for the first time. The last time the lake was nearly full was 1999.
On July 18th, the elevation of the water at Hoover Dam was 1,041 feet (about 317 meters). If the water goes below 1,000 feet (about 305 meters), the dam cannot produce electricity properly. Around 1.3 million nearby people use the electricity produced by Hoover Dam.
There’s another problem at Lake Mead. The Colorado River, which flows through Lake Mead, also has a water shortage. Forty million people from the southwest of the US and the northwest of Mexico need water from that river.
Long-term drought and climate change have made the problems worse.
The decreasing water level has revealed some secrets and history from the area. Tourists have started searching through areas in and around the drying lake for jewelry and other valuable things.
VOCABULARY
- Reservoir – a lake or pool used as water supply
- Shrink – to become less or smaller; to decrease
- Capacity – the maximum amount that can fit; the most that something can contain inside
- Elevation – the height above the “floor” or bottom; the height above sea level
- Electricity – power, current, energy used to operate lights, TVs, etc.
- Shortage – limited supply; not enough; too little
- Drought – a long period of time with no rain or only very little rain
- Climate change – the fast change in weather happening around the world
Original story from The Verge below:
