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The beach near Hemenway Harbor in Lake Mead's Boulder Basin has doubled in size as the lake's surface level continues to drop. Photo by John Gurzinski. LAKE LEVEL Bureau of Reclamation records show Lake Mead's level has fluctuated over the years since Boulder Dam, now called Hoover Dam, was completed on the Colorado River in 1935. Year Surface elevation (in feet) 1935 673.5 1942 1,213 1956 1,083.1 * 1972 1,154 1983 1,225 ** 2002 1,158.5 * Lowest level since first filling. ** Highest level on record, water flows over spillway. -- REVIEW-JOURNAL

Wednesday, July 24, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

DROUGHT CONDITIONS: Lake Mead drops to lowest level in years

Situation not dire, marina operators, water suppliers say

As the drought continues on the upper Colorado River that supplies Lake Mead, federal and local water officials project that the lake's level could dip to the 1,152-foot elevation by December, the lowest it's been in 30 years.

But they're not worried that the lake's level will suddenly drop below the two intakes at Saddle Island that draw water for the Las Vegas Valley.

One intake, roughly 10 feet in diameter, sits at the 1,050-foot elevation. It was installed in 1971 near the end of the last period that the lake was so low.

The other intake, completed in 2000, is at the 1,000-foot elevation.

"We really aren't expecting it to get down to the intake level," said J.C. Davis, a spokesman for the Southern Nevada Water Authority.

On Tuesday, the Bureau of Reclamation reported Lake Mead's surface elevation at 1,158.52 feet. That's 0.06 of a foot lower than it was on Monday, yet 0.01 foot higher than it was Thursday.

The lake's level fluctuates with the amount of water entering the Colorado River from runoff in the upper reaches and the amount that is released at Hoover Dam to maintain water supplies drawn from Lake Mohave below the dam.

Bureau of Reclamation officials project Lake Mead will drop about 6 more feet, to elevation 1,152.8 by December. It would have to drop another 103 feet to reach the first intake at Saddle Island and then 153 feet more to reach the second intake.

"We're not going to wake up some morning and discover that we're pulling air of the lake," Davis said, noting the district would have enough time to respond to such an unlikely crisis.

Since Hoover Dam was completed in 1935 and Lake Mead was filled to the 1,213-foot elevation in 1942, there have been two other severe drought periods that have affected the lake's level. Bureau records show the lake's level was lower than it is now from 1961 through 1972 as well as from 1944 through 1957.

The lowest it's been since it was first filled was April 1956 when the surface elevation dropped to about the 1,083-foot mark.

Runoff entering the Colorado River is the second lowest experienced in the past 40 years; 1977 brought lesser runoffs, according to the Bureau of Reclamation.

Bureau officials figure that the Colorado River has 15 million acre-feet of runoff in an average year. An acre-foot is the amount of water it takes to cover an acre with 1 foot of water.

This year, the federal government projects there will be 3.4 million acre-feet of runoff.

The Colorado River has 60 million acre-feet of capacity, but is currently at 40.23 million acre-feet. Lake Powell is 65 percent full.

Downstream from there, Lake Mead holds 68 percent of its capacity. Lake Mohave at Laughlin contains 93 percent of its capacity, and Lake Havasu holds 92 percent of its capacity.

While low lake levels mean marina operators have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep docks afloat and utility equipment intact, at least one concessionaire said he can tolerate the inconvenience as long as visitors continue to come to Lake Mead, the nation's largest man-made reservoir.

"Even though it is down, there's still thousands of acres of lake," Bob Clark, vice president of operations for Seven Crown Resorts, said Tuesday. The concessionaire runs three marinas on Lake Mead and one on Lake Mohave.

He said news of the low lake levels has caused a decline in customers. But Lake Mead visitors, Clark said, should realize that as the lake level continues to drop, more coves and beaches emerge.

"There's plenty of lake here, and people should not be concerned about launching boats and coming down and having a good time," he said.

Clark estimates Seven Crown Resorts has spent "several hundred thousand dollars" in what he described as "trying to chase the lake down."

Every foot that Lake Mead's surface drops in elevation results in a swath of exposed shoreline that is 40 or 50 feet wide. That means at Lake Mead Marina, for example, that 60 anchors must be repositioned to keep docks and boat slips in deep enough water, a costly exercise.

But that's not the only adjustment marina operators must make, Clark said. "We've got to put in new electrical vaults, add new fuel lines and fuel systems, and install booster pumps for sewage when boats use the docks. ...That's an expensive proposition, but we're keeping up with it."

Review-Journal writer John G. Edwards contributed to this report.