Lake Powell and Lake Mead Warning of the Day of Reckoning for Scottsdale

Lake Powell. Photo Credit: NBC4 Utah

Lake Powell and Lake Mead both hit record lows this month, and the numbers are hard to shrug off. These dynamics are the biggest threat to Scottsdale in its history. Powell has dropped more than 20 feet since the start of the year and is now just 30 feet from the point where its hydroelectric turbines stop working altogether. Mead hit its own record low the week before. Three decades of drought, persistent overuse of the Colorado River system, and climate change are all doing their part.

Nobody’s Turning Off the Tap Tomorrow, But Don’t Get Comfortable

To be clear, water policy experts quoted in the piece aren’t saying Arizona is about to run dry. Cities across the region have been planning around this decline for years. But “not running out of water” and “nothing changes” are two very different statements. Expect water rates to keep climbing, and expect the strain on the Colorado River system to keep showing up in ways beyond the tap, including the power grid, since Lake Powell’s hydropower has long been a source of relatively cheap, reliable electricity for the West.

This Isn’t a New Conversation for Scottsdale

We’ve been writing about this for a while now, because Scottsdale’s relationship with its water supply has been anything but settled. We called it a dry canary in the coalmine for a reason. We’ve covered the Tier 1 shortage and what it actually means for residents, and the city’s own numbers on what it will take to protect the supply long term.

Lake Powell change. Photo Credit: NASA

Every one of those stories pointed back to the same source: the Colorado River, and reservoirs that keep setting records for the wrong reasons. Lake Powell and Lake Mead aren’t abstractions for Scottsdale. They’re the reason city council debates over growth, development, and water management aren’t just political theater. This month’s numbers are one more reminder that the margin for error here is thinner than a lot of people would like to admit.

There is a great schism on the city council about how to handle this crisis.  But water should be above these petty politics.  After all that’s how great statesmen from both parties years ago helped forged our amazing state.  If they don’t the city’s future may be more toilet than tap.