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Gallery|Water

In Pictures: Across US West, drought arriving dangerously early

The second-largest reservoir in California is at less than half of its average capacity at this time of year.

In this aerial image, houseboats are moored as dry land is exposed on the banks of Lake Oroville reservoir due to low water levels during the California drought emergency in Oroville, California. [Patrick T. Fallon/AFP]
Published On 14 Jun 202114 Jun 2021
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Lakes at historically low levels, unusually early forest fires, restrictions on water use and now a potentially record heatwave: even before summer’s start the United States’ West is suffering the effects of chronic drought made worse by climate change.

Eighty-eight per cent of the West was in a state of drought this week, including the entire states of California, Oregon, Utah and Nevada, according to official data.

In a particularly stark symptom of this trend, which is affecting more than 143 million Americans, Lake Mead – the country’s largest reservoir, lying at the border of Nevada and Arizona – now stands at its lowest level since its creation in the 1930s.

The lake, formed when the huge Hoover Dam was built across the Colorado River not far from Las Vegas, stands at just 36 per cent of capacity, below even a record set in 2016.

Authorities expected something like this – but not until August.

The situation in northern California, which normally receives ample precipitation in the winter and spring, is no better. Lake Oroville, the state’s second-largest reservoir and a key part of a network providing potable water to 27 million Californians, is 50 metres (165 feet) lower than in 2019.

Widespread water-use restrictions appear inevitable over the coming months, with potentially serious ramifications for Western states, in particular for irrigation-dependent farmers – who provide much of the country’s fruits and vegetables.

In California, whose vast almond groves supply 80 per cent of world production, some farmers have already begun uprooting trees to save water.

As of April 1, the date traditionally marking the area’s last snowfall, the snowpack on the upper slopes of the Sierra Nevada – source of roughly a third of all water used in California – was at only 60 percent of average.

“Really, one thing unique this year is that as the snow melted, the runoff ended up soaking into dry soils and ended up evaporating,” never reaching Lake Oroville, John Yarbrough, an official with the California Department of Water Resources, told the AFP news agency.

“So that’s what was unusual this year, how little runoff we got from that snowpack.”

According to the US Drought Monitor, one-third of California is currently experiencing “exceptional drought”, the worst level.

And dry soils and water-deprived vegetation create the conditions for even higher temperatures, feeding a devastating vicious circle.

Meteorologists have issued heat warnings, saying that Las Vegas, for example, could hit 115 Fahrenheit (46 Celsius), surpassing a record established in 1940.

Authorities are particularly concerned about forest fires, which have arrived unusually early this year and with rare intensity. As of the end of May, fires in California had already destroyed five times as much vegetation as they had last year at this point.

Dead and dying fish lie in a small pool of water cut off from the main body as water levels continue to recede at the Lake Oroville reservoir. [Patrick T. Fallon/AFP]
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An aerial image shows a dead tree previously covered by water and dry land exposed on the banks of Lake Oroville reservoir due to low water levels during the California drought emergency in Oroville. [Patrick T. Fallon/AFP]
A California Conservation Corps firefighter carries a branch, a potential fuel source for a fire, towards a wood chipper during a fuel reduction operation with the Cal Fire/Butte County Fire Department and firefighters from the California Conservation Corps near Lake Oroville. [Patrick T. Fallon/AFP]
Houseboats are moored on Lake Oroville reservoir during the California drought emergency in Oroville, California. - Summer has not even begun and Lake Oroville, the second-largest reservoir in California that provides drinking water to more than 25 million people, is at less than half of its average capacity at this time of year. [Patrick T. Fallon/AFP]
John Yarbrough, assistant deputy director with the California State Water Project holds dry soil that would normally be underwater as he speaks at the Lake Oroville reservoir. [Patrick T. Fallon/AFP]
A bird taking flight as empty boat slips sit on a dry lake bed at Folsom Lake Marina, with the lake experiencing lower water levels in El Dorado Hills, California. On May 10, California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of drought emergency in 41 counties, including El Dorado County where Folsom Lake is located. [Patrick T. Fallon/AFP]
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A resident waits for a construction inspection at the site of a structure being rebuilt following the Bear Fire, part of the North Complex Fire, during the current California drought emergency near Berry Creek, California. [Patrick T. Fallon/AFP]
The Enterprise Bridge and dead trees burned in a recent wildfire stand as dry land is exposed on the banks of Lake Oroville reservoir due to low water levels during the California drought emergency. [Patrick T. Fallon/AFP]
In a worrying indication of the worsening drought conditions in the northern part of the Golden State, the Lake Oroville reservoir is dangerously low. [Patrick T. Fallon/AFP]


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