Lakes Powell & Mead Water Levels - Content (water storage) vs Elevation (water height)
Lake Powell and Lake Mead water levels are often stated in terms of elevation above sea level (height). That can be conterintuitive given that the canyons that contain the lakes are deep and narrow at the bottom, and quite wide at the top - much more water is in the top feet/meters of the lakes than in the bottom feet/meters of the lakes. This will be more pronounced now with the lakes setting record daily lows for the rest of the year, and into next year until the spring snowmelt.
Note how much deeper the content (water storage) dips during the annual drainage, especially during drought, than in the elevation (water height) graph.
Select a tle for a larger image of the graph; select close to return to Colorado Basin Drought, home to return to the SCC home page
