CNN —Rising temperatures have sucked more than 10 trillion gallons of water out of the Colorado River Basin between 2000 and 2021 – a volume about the size of Lake Mead – according to a recent study. The Tier 1 shortage took effect in January 2022; a Tier 2 shortage – due to even lower water levels at Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir – was implemented in January 2023. Last summer in particular set off alarm bells when the water level in Lake Mead dropped an astonishing 20 feet over the course of four months. Mead, fed by the Colorado River, fell to its lowest level to-date in July 2022, with lake elevation of 1040 feet. “Even though there’s been a wet winter, there’s still going to be that 10% reduction in runoff.”The Colorado River flows through the Grand Canyon on the Hualapai reservation.

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Persons: Lake Mead –, ” Benjamin Bass, “, John Locher, Lake Mead, Mead, ” Bass, Bass, there’s, Ethan Gutmann, ”, ” Gutmann Organizations: CNN, UCLA, Water Resources Research, AP State, National Center for Atmospheric Research, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration Locations: Colorado, Lake, American, Lake Mead, snowier