Reuters.- US officials on Monday issued an official shortage declaration for the huge western Lake Mead Reservoir on Monday, causing water outages in the drought-stricken southwest of the country.
The shortage will reduce water applications to Arizona, Nevada and Mexico for the year beginning in October, the US Office of Recovery said in a statement.
Arizona will lose 18% of its annual distribution, while Nevada will see cuts of 7%. Allocations to Mexico will be reduced by 5%.
Lake Mead, formed in the 1930s from the Colorado River Dam on the Nevada-Arizona border, is the largest reservoir in the United States. It is critical to the water supply of 25 million people in the cities of Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Tucson and Las Vegas.
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The devastating drought in the western United States has pushed Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the nation’s second-largest reservoir, to record lows. Total water storage in the Colorado River system is at 40% capacity, up from 49% a year ago, the office said.
The water emissions in a set year are determined by an annual study that anticipates the water levels of the reservoirs in winter. In January, Lake Mead is expected to be 324.9 meters, 2.7 meters below the official level to create shortages.
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