7-5-2022
Millions of gallons of Colorado River water hurtle through the Hoover Dam every day, generating electricity for hundreds of thousands of homes.
But the mega drought affecting the western United States is sending reservoir levels plummeting towards deadpool -- the point at which the dam can no longer produce power.
"We are 23rd year of drought here in the Colorado River Basin and Lake Mead has dropped down to 28 percent," explains Patti Aaron of the US Bureau of Reclamation, which operates the dam. She was referring to the vast lake created by the building of the dam.
"There isn't as much head so there isn't as much pressure pushing the water into the turbines, so there's less efficiency and we aren't able to produce as much power."
Hoover Dam was a feat of American hope and engineering.
Construction began in 1931 as the country was withering under the Great Depression.
Thousands of workers toiled 24 hours a day to build what was then the largest hydroelectricity facility in the world.
The dam stopped up the Colorado River, creating Lake Mead, the biggest reservoir in the United States.
At its height, the lake surface sits over 1,200 feet (365 meters) above sea level. But after more than two decades of drought it is 1,050 feet --
the lowest since the lake was filled, and falling about a foot a week.
If it drops to 950 feet, the intakes for the dam will no longer be under water and the turbines will stop.
"We're working very hard for that not to happen," said Aaron. "It's just not an option to not produce power or not deliver water."
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