AMERICANALMANAC (Charles McAdams) - Lake Mead hits historic low as Hoover Dam turbines near shutdown threshold
Lake Mead has dropped to its lowest water level ever recorded, leaving Hoover Dam just five feet from forced turbine shutdowns and threatening water and power for tens of millions across the Southwest. The largest reservoir in the United States now sits at just under 1,040 feet above sea level, down from the 1,220-foot mark […] The post Lake Mead hits historic low as Hoover Dam turbines near shutdown threshold appeared first on American Almanac .
Lake Mead has dropped to its lowest water level ever recorded, leaving Hoover Dam just five feet from forced turbine shutdowns and threatening water and power for tens of millions across the Southwest. The largest reservoir in the United States now sits at just under 1,040 feet above sea level, down from the 1,220-foot mark considered full capacity. That puts Lake Mead at less than 27 percent of its operating capacity, a number that should alarm every household from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has warned that both Hoover Dam and Glen Canyon Dam, roughly 300 miles apart on the Colorado River, are now feet away from the point where hydroelectric turbines would have to go dark. At Hoover Dam, the older turbines…Open