LOS ANGELES — The bathtub ring around Lake Mead is a constant visual reminder of the dwindling water in the Colorado River.

What You Need To Know

  • Because of the drought and loss of water pressure, Hoover Dam is generating 1,350 megawatts, a loss around 35%

  • The Bureau of Reclamation says the entire river basin storage had a high of 94% capacity in water year 2000, and now it's around 33% capacity

  • Reclamation said they project water levels to be around 37% of total system capacity by the end of this water year

  • That number could vary, due to the uncertainty around runoff and reservoir inflow from this winter's snowpack

Len Schilling is the area manager for the lower Colorado dam’s office here at Hoover Dam. His job is to make sure water can be delivered while making as much power as possible. But since the 23-year drought on the river, the amount of power generated by the dam has fallen.

“Three hundred and fifty thousand households’ worth of energy right now is what we estimate,” Schilling said.

When asked by a reporter if the levels have gone down, Schilling replied, “Yeah a lot, well it used to be about 450,000 households about, that’s the equivalent amount of energy.”

There are two factors needed to produce power. Water must pass through the turbines, and there needs to be water pressure. The more water pressure pushing down on the turbines to spin the generators, the more energy produced. But, less water in the lake means a big dip in energy.

“So that’s kind of the drought impacts on hydropower,” Schilling said.

We descend into the Arizona side of the dam to see the generators. Lower lake levels have cut Hoover’s hydroelectricity around 35%. For Schilling, it’s a delicate balance to keep rates stable for customers while producing less power.

“It’s been a kind of gradual over the years impact, but it is an impact certainly for our power customers, because they’ll feel that cost per megawatt hour,” Schilling said.

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Tuesday’s proposed cuts of the Colorado River by the federal government are a desperate attempt to keep enough water in Lake Mead to continue delivering water and power.

But it’s a race against time and mother nature.

“We just continue to try to make as much power as we can out of the water we get,” said Schilling.

As of March, the reservoir’s water level sits at 1,046 feet of elevation.

The minimum level to generate power is 950 feet, and if the level drops to 895 feet, then that’s the dreaded Deadpool.

Deadpool is the point when water can no longer flow downstream from the dam, and if that happens, then the system as we know it fails.