By Mary O’KEEFE

Lake Powell is a large man-made reservoir on the Colorado River that is between Utah and Arizona. It is the second-largest reservoir in the U.S.; however, the lake is now hovering near a critical “dead pool.”

“Put simply, dead pool occurs when the amount of water stored in a reservoir is so low water can no longer flow downstream,” according to the Sierra Club. 

In an article titled, “Lake Powell inches toward critical threshold as water supply in West continues to dwindle” on The Weather Channel, Lake Powell’s elevation is around 3,527 feet above sea level – about 158 feet above the “dead pool” threshold when Glen Canyon Dam can no longer generate hydropower. 

“The current level is close to the record low of 3,520 feet recorded in April 2023,” according to The Weather Channel. 

The low levels are linked to a weak snow season and limited spring runoff into Lake Powell and Lake Mead. This area has faced an unusually high number of dry years since the 1990s, described as the Southwest’s “megadrought era,” according to The Weather Channel. 

“Since 2001, declining water levels due to climate change and 20 years of drought have reshaped Lake Powell’s shoreline. Today we are experiencing low lake levels and their effects on boat ramp access points, on-lake facilities and the landscape. Significant changes to the shoreline will affect usability of boat launch ramps throughout the year, especially in warmer months. We ask visitors to plan ahead and prepare for longer lines, limited parking and congestion at boat ramps and docks. To relieve launch ramp congestion, please ready your boat at a nearby parking lot before driving to launch ramps. View the current status of your preferred launch destination before heading to the lake,” according to the National Park Service website.

Lake Mead also has dangerously low levels at under 1,043 feet, breaking a March 2024 level. 

“Together, the two reservoirs haven’t been this low since 1957, during the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam, before Lake Powell even existed,” according to a CNN report by Laura Paddison.

The Colorado River irrigates more than 5 million acres of farmland, generates enough electricity to power around 700,000 houses and provides water for 40 million people, according to CNN. 

There are seven states that look to the Colorado River as a lifeline: In the upper basin are Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico. The lower basin states are California, Arizona and Nevada. 

According to a water watchdog organization, LA Waterkeeper, California and lower basin states have cut use of the Colorado River by nearly 20% since 2015, but the upper basin states have gone in the opposite direction. 

The droughts and changing climate have been watched closely by leaders in these seven states and arguments continue of what should be done. 

“Since the negotiations do not seem to be producing any movement forward, the Trump Administration is now poised to impose sweeping cuts. California, Arizona and Nevada have offered to cut their use by about 1.6 million acre-feet, or roughly 500 billion gallons, a year for the next two years. However, federal officials who control the water flow are considering cuts nearly twice that amount. The major cuts would likely mean higher costs for cities trying to secure water, tighter restrictions on outdoor water and significant changes for farmers who use the majority of the river’s supply,” according to a report from CBS News.

What all of this means is something, again, that sci-fi has been telling us for generations: Earth’s resources are limited. Our planet is warming, our climate … our weather … is changing. We do get some Bandaids every once in a while, like the predicted large El Niño on its way this fall. It may bring more rain, or even snow, but then again – it may not. 

“NOAA’s National Weather Service announced [on June 11]  that El Niño has developed in the tropical Pacific and issued an El Niño Advisory. El Niño, the warm phase of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), is predicted to intensify to a moderate or strong level this fall. Forecasters predict a 63% chance of sea surface temperatures exceeding 2.0 degrees Celsius (35.6 degrees Fahrenheit) in the Niño-monitored region of the Pacific. If this threshold is surpassed, NOAA considers the event a ‘very strong’ El Niño,” according to NOAA.

Typically, El Niño conditions bring rains to the southern tier of the U.S., like California, and drier conditions over the Northern Rockies and the Ohio and Tennessee valleys, according to NOAA.

While climate change, including the warming of the oceans, does not make El Niño occur more often it “acts like fuel on a fire, amplifying El Niño’s extreme weather impacts like severe droughts, heatwaves and heavy rainfalls,” according to the World Meteorological Organization. 

So the bottomline is that as we continue to warm our planet at a rapid rate we will continue to have extreme weather – and we all need to be prepared because we have ignored the signs Mother Nature have given us – and she seems to be ignoring our pleas as well. 

The National Weather Service has issued an extreme heat warning from July 31 at 10 a.m. to Aug. 2 at 8 p.m.

It is going to be hot with temperatures approaching 100 degrees, though more likely locally in the high 90s on Friday through Sunday. The temps will dip just a little to 94-97 degrees on Sunday and Monday. The nights will cool to the low 70s to upper 60s. 

A lot of us like to take refuge at the beach; however, it is important to check beach reports because the beaches, especially the south-facing beaches, are still seeing higher swells due to Hurricane Genevieve. 

Zuma Beach has seen a high number of rescues – just under 2,000 ocean rescues between July 27 and July 28.