Because you asked: Vegas is adding a pipeline to Lake Mead; should we be worried? - Today's News-Herald
But Havasu residents, and those in the South Basin for that matter, should be watching Las Vegas for one particular thing – Lake Mead’s water levels. With the lake being our supplier, there’s cause for concern now that water levels have dipped under 1,075 inches, the trigger elevation for a water shortage. If conditions are to remain that way, the Bureau of Reclamation could call one come January. Based on water level projections issued this month, water levels are expected to reach 1,083 by January, which means a shortage will likely not be called. And unless the water elevation of the lake changes drastically in a month, Lake Havasu City Water Resources Coordinator Doyle Wilson said there isn’t much to worry about, as the Bureau of Reclamation will use August’s numbers to make that... But one reader heard that the city of Las Vegas is digging a tunnel below its existing waterline tunnel to tap in the low Lake Mead and wants to know if they can do that. There are a few things in that area that are legal that aren’t anywhere else but in this case, the city isn’t breaking the law and the project has been going on for quite some time now. Wilson said the new pipeline is not about more water, it’s about access. Their current access points may be too high in a few years and will have to get the water from another point, which is actually in the 800-foot range. Legally they can’t take more water than they’re already receiving and the move should have no effect on our water. Source: www.havasunews.com
