Flooding
Lake Mead 74% empty, Lake Powell 78% empty: both at record lows this week
By Ryan Hall, Y'all Weather Desk ยท Published
Written by our automated news desk from National Weather Service data.
Key points
- Where: Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the two big reservoirs on the Colorado River system.
- When: Both set new all-time lows this week.
- What: Mead is 26% full at 1,038.50 feet. Powell is 22% full at 3,516.62 feet.
- The warning sign: Powell is 26 feet above the level where Glen Canyon Dam can no longer make power.
- What it means: About 40 million people get water from this river. Nothing changes at the tap this month, and this winter's snow in the Rockies decides what comes next.
Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the two biggest reservoirs in America, both dropped to their lowest levels since they were filled this week. Mead sits at 1,038.50 feet and is 26% full, and Powell sits at 3,516.62 feet and is 22% full.
That means Mead is 74% empty and Powell is 78% empty, at the same time. Nobody's tap shuts off this month, but the margin is getting thin.
Two lakes, one record
Each lake has been low before, but neither has ever been this low since being filled. That is the part that stands out. Mead and Powell are hitting record lows in the same week, not taking turns.
Our newsroom built a before-and-after picture to show it. It stacks two satellite crops: the Overton Arm on the north side of Lake Mead on top, and the end of Lake Powell by Glen Canyon Dam on the bottom. Everything in red was under water this same week in 1999 and is dry ground now. The water that's left is in blue.
Powell is close to the line where the dam stops making power
Powell is 26 feet above the level where Glen Canyon Dam can no longer make electricity.
August inflow to Powell was 0 percent of average
The bigger problem is upstream. In August, the river that feeds Powell delivered almost nothing. Reclamation's official number for the month was 0 percent of average.
A reservoir is like a bank account. When the money coming in drops to almost nothing, the balance can fall. The satellite picture shows how much the reservoirs have receded since 1999.
What it means for you
About 40 million people get water from this river. No one's tap shuts off this month, and the record lows don't change that.
What happens next depends largely on the snow that falls in the Rockies this winter. We'll be watching our snow forecasts and the winter storm outlook for signs of a big mountain snow season. If you want a heads-up when weather turns serious where you live, you can sign up for free Y'all Alerts.
Bottom line
Lake Mead and Lake Powell are both at the lowest levels since they were filled, with Powell just 26 feet above the point where Glen Canyon Dam can't make power. Nobody's tap shuts off this month, and this winter's Rockies snow will decide what comes next.
Imagery: Copernicus Sentinel-2, USGS/NASA Landsat 7
| Reservoir | Water level | Percent full |
|---|---|---|
| Lake Mead | 1,038.50 ft | 26% full |
| Lake Powell | 3,516.62 ft | 22% full |
More on November 2026 weather
https://ryanhallyall.com/news/lake-mead-74-empty-lake-powell-78-empty-both-at-record-lows-this-week