For the third year in a row, there will be a federal water shortage for Lake Mead.

But thanks to more snow this past winter, those water cuts might look different for those who depend on Lake Mead for water.

Here to explain, this is Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Colton Lochhead.

Thank you so much, Colton, for joining us.

Glad to be here.

Before we get to these new developments, I do need to ask you why this is such an important topic for you to cover as someone who did grow up here in Las Vegas.

You grow up with Lake Mead in your backyard for me.

I used to go fishing.

Me and my dad and my brother would go fishing there.

You know, at least quite a bit during the summer.

And for me, especially now, you go to the lake and a lot of those spots just aren't even there.

They're just bare in shoreline.

As someone who also grew up here, I'd go out there.

I was there not too long ago at the beginning the year for a hike and to look out there to see that bathtub ring.

It is disheartening to see that because it again makes us realize this is a major issue.

Right?

I mean, that's the thing is it's kind of the biggest reminder of what we're dealing with.

It's a huge visual of what is happening to our climate and what is happening to our water supplies here.

And I mean, we really think about the depth of it when you actually stand next to that bathtub and you really see just how big it is.

And at certain points, they are marking it.

And you go out there, like you said, in your this used to be water at one point.

Yeah.

And it's you know, it's almost like what we when you have a child growing up in your marking how high they are, how tall they are just the reverse.

So let's talk about this latest development.

It is promising news, but again, we can't just go out there and start celebrating just yet.

Right.

I mean, it is it's very good news.

We you know, overall in the lower basin, quite a bit more water going back to farmers, going back to cities.

But at the same time, we're still in a shortage.

As you mentioned, it's the shortage for a third straight year.

The first shortage was declared first ever water shortage was declared by the federal government in 2021.

And the to be in there for a third straight year just kind of represents just how dire the situation is even after such an incredible winter, one that was one of the best winters we've had in decades.

We're still in a shortage.

Water is still being kind of restricted for Nevada and Arizona and Mexico.

And, you know, for the longer term outlook, even with one good year, it's only a drop in the bucket and it's only something that's going to keep us.

Give us a little bit more time of, you know, a few months, maybe a little over a year.

And we did move from a tier two to tier one.

What does that mean for us?

It means about 4000 acre feet of water, which is, you know, in the grand scheme of things, on a normal year, we get 300,000 acre feet.

So it's a little over 1% more water.

But still, we're still dealing with a shortage of about 25,000 acre feet down from that 300,000.

So it means a little bit more water.

So not but for there's bigger cuts for Arizona.

And so the impact from this move from two from a tier two to a tier one helps them a little bit more than it helps us.

And for some of our viewers who are new to Nevada, let's talk a little bit about Lake Mead, as well as Lake Powell.

They are two of the largest reservoirs in the entire country right now.

Combined, they stand at 36%.

Combined storage.

They stand at 36%.

What that means is compared to where they would be at full capacity, their combined storage is just, you know, just over one third for for lake Mead at that pretty much actually.

Exactly.

At one third fall as of this week, about 33%.

Lake Powell, it's about 39%.

And what that those are the two big those are the two biggest storage facilities on the Colorado River.

They supply water and those are the two main water sources for, you know, 40 million people here in the southwest and including Mexico.

And I do want to add something in your article again, you have some wonderful articles on this topic that you're very passionate about on the RJ.

You did speak with Kyle roaring with the Great Basin Water Network.

He's the executive director.

He wrote, Climate change gives us very little breathing room to refill reservoirs.

Look at the history.

Elevations are basically back to where they were two years ago.

What's it going to take to bring us back to the brink?

Not much.

And this is where it was really concerning when I read this.

More pain is coming for plant life, wildlife and human life.

And I have little faith that water managers will take the proper long term course to mitigate the hardship.

Again, concerning very concerning.

And, you know, there is some precedent to what he's what Kyle is talking about there.

If you look back over the years, the projections that the federal the Bureau of Reclamation issues every you know, every month, they put them out for a 24 month outlook, even their lowest they're their worst case scenarios that they put out has over the past few years not even come close to where we actually the how bad we actually got.

So they're even looking two years from now know we are looking to be Lake Mead is expected to drop again because the river is not only dealing with climate change, but it's dealing with chronic overuse from the from the basin itself.

And what that means is that there's just more water being taking out than there is going in, even in a good water year typically, or an average water year, I should say.

And so what that means is that every year we've seen it over the last 20 something years.

Now that water level just keeps dropping, keeps dropping, keep dropping.

And even a great year like this, it just means that, like I said, maybe buys us a 12 months, maybe 14, if we're lucky, 15.

But then if we go back to the normal winters that we've had or even, you know, another stretch like we've had before this, you know, three or four bad winters in a row, it's just going to put us into a really, really bad place.

And Colton, let's talk about conservation efforts and what we need to do as a community as a whole.

All right.

So Las Vegas is quite a bit ahead of the curve, especially compared to its basin.

You know, it's based and partners, Las Vegas, especially.

We even with these cuts that we've been dealing with for the last two years, Las Vegas has come in and southern Nevada has come nowhere near using its full allotment from the from the Colorado River because of those conservation measures.

You know, a lot of the stuff that's been going on for 20 years, the the turf removal, the turf removal turf rebate program and some of the stuff that's been going on now with the nonfunctional turf ban and the removal of that turf, that's another huge water savings.

Grass is the number one consumer of water here in southern Nevada.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority put a moratorium to ban evaporative coolers, which are the second biggest commercial evaporative closures, I should say, which are the second biggest consumer of water.

So those two efforts are going to help kind of reduce it.

And we're seeing it this year.

We are on pace, Nevada to use just less than right now, just under 200,000 acre feet of water from the Colorado River this year.

You know, even so, even if we do have a 275,270 1000, depending on what it is over the next few years allocation, we're going to be in pretty decent shape, especially compared to some of the other ones that are using at or even a lot of years above what they're allocated.

Again, promising news, but a lot of work to do.

Thank you, Colton, so much for joining us.

And where can we follow you?

You can just follow me on.

I think it's formerly known as Twitter X at Colton Lockett.

Colton, thank you so much for what you're doing to keep us informed when it comes to this important topic.

Thank you so much.