'It'll buy us time': Feds to pay millions to prop up dwindling Lake Mead

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Set us as preferred A major Southern California water agency has struck a deal with federal officials to boost water levels in Lake Mead, part of a broader effort to keep the country’s largest reservoir from reaching critically low levels — at least for a while longer.The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s board of directors approved an agreement in which the U.S.Bureau of Reclamation will pay the agency to leave up to 200,000 acre-feet of water from the Colorado River in the reservoir, or enough to serve about 600,000 households.It’s one of several partnerships in California, Arizona and Nevada that will conserve close to 700,000 acre-feet in the artificial lake near Las Vegas, said Bill Hasencamp, manager of Colorado River resources for MWD.

Some see the effort as a stopgap as longer-term solutions are worked out.Climate & Environment The source of the Colorado River in the Rocky Mountains is drying up, threatening a critical water lifeline for about 35 million people and 5 million acres of farmland across the Southwest.Following an exceedingly warm year that has left the Colorado River’s headwaters in the Rocky Mountains largely snowless, Lake Mead is nearing a record-low level.

If the water level drops too low, it could slash hydropower generation by 70% at Hoover Dam, a key electricity supplier to the Southwest, according to MWD.“Protecting Lake Mead’s water levels and mitigating the loss of hydropower generation at Hoover Dam requires timely, collaborative action and we value the proactive partnership we have with Metropolitan Water District,” said Genevieve Johnson, acting regional director for the Reclamation Bureau’s Lower Colorado Region, in a statement.By December, MWD’s deal will add three feet of water to the reservoir, according to Hasencamp.

Per the terms, the federal...