A water shortage is likely on Lake Mead, with or without a drought contingency plan
Opinion: The Lower Basin Drought Contingency Plan won’t help us avoid all water shortages. But it will help protect Lake Mead from reaching critically low levels.
by Tom Buschatzke and Ted Cooke | Arizona Republic
The state’s water stakeholders have been engaged for more than two months to craft Arizona’s approach to the Lower Basin Drought Contingency Plan. This effort, led by our two agencies, is directed toward “bending the curve” to protect Lake Mead from falling to critical levels.
Recent reports from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation have stated that the Colorado River Basin has avoided shortage for 2019, but has at least a 50/50 chance of moving into a shortage declaration in 2020.
So, will this drought contingency planning effort change that course? Will it keep the basin out of the Tier 1 shortage to be declared when Lake Mead dips to an elevation of 1,075 feet?
The answer to both questions is, simply, “no.”
