The atmospheric river that descended on California in recent days probably won't do much for Lake Mead or Lake Powell. But they could mean good things for smaller reservoirs, an expert told Newsweek.
The ongoing atmospheric river has caused extremely heavy rainfall and high winds in the state in recent days. The historic weather has caused extreme disruption and flooding. The storm is even being classed as a 1,000-year flood.
An atmospheric river is a corridor of concentrated, tropical moisture that travels through the atmosphere. When it unleashes, it can cause huge amounts of precipitation.
California has suffered from severe droughts in recent years, making this kind of rainfall rare. The state's reservoirs have benefited from an increase in rainfall over the past year.
But what about more integral reservoirs like Lake Mead and Lake Powell, which lie in neighboring states Nevada, Arizona and Utah? It is possible that these storms could increase snowpack in the region's surrounding regions which could eventually fill reservoirs.
"What happens to the reservoirs will depend, not only on these present storms, but what happens over the rest of February, March, and April," Becky Bolinger, an assistant state climatologist at the Colorado Climate Center at Colorado State University told Newsweek.
"It is when all that accumulated snow begins to melt, that we will have a good idea of how those reservoir levels will respond. Events like this are always helpful, but you need more than one in the interior Rockies to get the snowpack we need for full reservoir recharge. And, unfortunately, regardless of the amounts, Powell and Mead are too big to see full recovery from a few good storms, or even one or two good years. Smaller reservoirs will greatly benefit though."
Lake Mead is the biggest manmade reservoir in the United States. It provides water for about 25 million people living in the Colorado River basin, but its levels are not what they once were.
The lake has been drying up due to severe drought in the region which has plagued water resources for years. In July 2022, it reached its lowest point of around 1040 feet.
Increased precipitation in the west has increased its levels slightly in recent months, but the situation remains worrying.
Currently, Lake Mead's levels stand at 1,073.82 feet as of February 7. This is an increase from its levels at the beginning of the year which stood at around 1,068 feet.
This is still only around 30 percent of its entire capacity.
Neighbouring Lake Powell, which is the second largest manmade reservoir on the Colorado River, has also seen lower levels than usual. As of February 6, Lake Powell stood at 3,564.40 feet but in 2023, the reservoir dropped to a historic low of 3,522.16 feet.
Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about Lake Mead and Lake Powell? Let us know via science@newsweek.com.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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