A rainy May has lowered the chance of a cutback in Colorado River water deliveries to southwest states like Arizona and Nevada next year.
This month, the Bureau of Reclamation revised what it forecasts the water level in Lake Mead will be at the beginning of January 2016.
It now sits six feet above the trigger point of 1,075 feet. That is a big improvement because last month it was predicted to be hovering just above that threshold. A final decision on a 2016 shortage won’t be made until August.
Rose Davis with the bureau said the amount of water flowing into the Colorado River basin has increased dramatically, bringing in an additional 3 million acre feet.
“I’m seeing it rise from 40 percent of average to 70 percent for the spring runoff," Davis said. "That was very significant and should be able to give us a little breathing room for any shortage declarations that were considered for 2016.”
Last month, the chance of a shortage in 2016 was 33 percent and 75 percent for 2017. Given all the precipitation in May, Rose said they are now re-evaluating those numbers and will have an update later this week.
Arizona cities will not be impacted by a level 1 shortage in Colorado River water, but farmers will lose at least half of their water.
