‘Historically dry’ Feb. could lead to shortage at Lake Mead

‘Historically dry’ February could lead to first-ever shortage declaration at Lake Mead

Federal forecasters have downgraded their projections for the Colorado River after an unusually hot, dry February that has increased the likelihood of a first-ever shortage declaration at Lake Mead.

Forecasters are now predicting the arrival of shortage conditions at the nation’s largest man-made reservoir in January 2018.

Just a month ago, forecasters expected Lake Mead to narrowly avoid the shortage line for at least the next two years. But Paul Miller, a senior hydrologist with the National Weather Service’s Colorado Basin River Forecast Center in Salt Lake City, said that all changed after a “historically dry” February in the mountains that feed the Colorado.

Some monitoring sites in the region logged their lowest February precipitation totals on record, Miller said.

“And we were doing so well,” he said.

Read more: www.reviewjournal.com/news/water-environment/historically-dry-february-could-lead-first-ever-shortage-declaration-lake