Lake Mead water line no longer high enough to pump water from intake valves

LAKE MEAD, Nev. (KYMA, KECY) - More fallout from the climate change-driven drought in the west.

Low water levels at Nevada's Lake Mead have dropped to unprecedented levels.

Southern Nevada Water Authority's intake valves that have been in service since 1971, are above the water line and exposed for the first time.

As a result, the intake valves can no longer draw water, so a pump station has been shut down.

The water authority has begun operating its new low lake pumping station for the first time.

It's capable of delivering water with the lake at a much lower level.

Construction was completed on the low lake pumping station in 2020.

It was built to protect the region's water resource in light of worsening droughts.