Lake Mead falls to lowest level since Hoover Dam's construction as "apocalyptic" heatwave and drought hit parts of US.
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00:00This is it, this is the iconic Hoover Dam in all of its glory and wonderment.
00:08It was built as a monument to America's ascendancy, providing power and water in a country hungry
00:13for both.
00:14Yet this triumph of engineering risks becoming a monument to the global tragedy of environmental
00:21change as the reservoir which powers the Hoover Dam depletes.
00:29We're in the 22nd year of drought in the Colorado River Basin.
00:32Lake Mead is at 35% capacity and that means we have about 25% less ability to produce
00:39power.
00:41Nature displays its distress well.
00:43The white band is the watermark, vividly showing what the level was and what it has fallen to.
00:50This reservoir, which supplies the dam and 25 million people, is now at an all-time low.
01:00We will very likely be declaring shortage for the first time ever in the lower basin
01:05for the year 2022.
01:07The electricity for 8 million Americans is produced by the Hoover Dam, this vast site
01:13powered by Lake Mead.
01:15To protect electrical output, a shortage declaration would reduce the water supply to home supply.
01:21People need to conserve water in every way that they can, in their homes, in their landscape.
01:28Rising temperatures offer huge challenges to the lake and the dam.
01:33Drought and climate change are the major problems here, but this year's super high temperatures
01:38mean that evaporation has reached record levels too.
01:42Enough water is lost every week from here to fill 15,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
01:54And what a pressure on a depleting supply.
01:57The dam provides power to Las Vegas, America's power guzzling playground.
02:02It's the fastest warming city and in the driest state.
02:06With an expanding population and rising temperatures, conservation is all.
02:11But surprisingly, in terms of water at least, the strip is not the problem.
02:16Almost all of it here is recycled.
02:19Here's some water right here.
02:21Wastage elsewhere is the real issue.
02:24This is water waste.
02:26Water waste investigator 7158, I have water coming through a brick wall from the backyard.
02:31Las Vegas is tackling that with round-the-clock patrols.
02:35Oh yeah, look at this.
02:37There are fines of up to $5,000 for water wastage.
02:40And I guess people would say this isn't a big deal, this is only a little bit of water.
02:44But this is cumulative effect.
02:46If you take this whole complex, there's thousands of gallons of water going out that main gate there.
02:53And this water will go into the storm drain system.
02:56It'll evaporate before it even hits the lake.
02:59So that's where the waste is from this.
03:02This is not recoverable.
03:05I have a spray and flow situation.
03:07These patrols are part of Las Vegas' attempt to protect the lake that so much of this city
03:12depends on.
03:14Water consumption is going down, but the lake is going down faster.
03:18It's sad.
03:20Every drop counts.
03:22A century ago, human ingenuity delivered a supply solution for America's West.
03:27Even greater ingenuity will be needed to ensure this wonder of the past has a place in the
03:33future.
03:37For more UN videos visit www.un.org