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Inching Closer to ‘Dead Pool’

Water intake towers of the Hoover Dam, with a “bathtub ring”—mineral marks where the high water once was—clearly visible.
Water intake towers of the Hoover Dam, with a “bathtub ring”—mineral marks where the high water once was—clearly visible. Photo: John Locher (AP)

Lake Mead is also in range of reaching “dead pool”—when water levels are so low that the Hoover Dam, which sits at the farthest point downriver on the lake and helped form it, can no longer produce hydropower. The dam’s turbines can produce power normally until water levels reach 950 feet (289.6 meters)—something officials say is not in the cards this year, but is worryingly close. The Hoover Dam generates enough power to serve 1.3 million people each year. In May, officials said the dam’s power capacity was already down by about a third, thanks to the lowered water levels in Lake Mead, meaning that the dam was only producing enough power for 675,000 customers.

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