The reservoir is now at 45 per cent capacity after losing water from drought for most of the past 14 years

A drought in the western United States has left water levels in the Colorado River basin far below their normal levels.

Lake Powell, a reservoir at the Arizona-Utah border, is 45 per cent below its capacity, and the lack of water has left a 'bathtub ring' at the bottom of its majestic rock formations.

The lake, from which the Colorado eventually snakes through Grand Canyon National Park, has lost 4.4 trillion gallons of water in a recent drought.

The river's basin has been experiencing the drought for eleven of the last 14 years, shrinking a reservoir that was one-fourth the size of Rhode Island when it was at 'full pool', according to National Geographic.

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Lake Powell, which is the country's second-largest reservoir when it is at 'full pool' capacity, now has a white bathtub ring in its canyons from dropping water levels
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Lake Powell, which is the country's second-largest reservoir when it is at 'full pool' capacity, now has a white bathtub ring in its canyons from dropping water levels

The Colorado provides water for Nevada, Arizona and California, the last of which has seen large areas in 'extreme' and 'exceptional' drought levels and is trying to restrict how much water residents use.

Seven states and 40million people get water from different parts of the river's basin, which extends into the southern reaches of Wyoming.

Many climate scientists think that the Southwest is also due for a megadrought this century that would far outlast the current phenomenon.

Lake Mead, the reservoir next to Hoover Dam, shrunk to 39 per cent of its capacity last year and was at its lowest level since the dam was built in the 1930s.

To help the other reserve keep a steady supply, Lake Powell will release 8.23 million acre-feet (2.68 trillion gallons) downstream over the course of this year.

The release is estimated to lower the water level at Powell, the second largest reservoir in the country behind Mead, by another meter.

It is in danger of seeing its surface elevation fall below 1,075 feet above sea level by September, which would be the lowest level on record, set in 2005, and increase the size of its bleached white ring.

Minerals in the water turn the walls of the sandstone canyons white, according to the Weather Channel.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3018740/Who-unplugged-drain-Drought-leaves-bleached-bathtub-ring-canyons-Colorado-River-reservoir-lost-4-4TRILLION-gallons-water.html#ixzz3WH4LkqIJ
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