Note: Each story links to articles posted on mesquitewateralliance.com
In May 2026 Lake Mead reached a new historic low falling roughly 1,040.4 feet below sea level, below the previous 2022 record and the lowest reservoir level since Mead filled in the 1930s. The decline is especially significant because Reclamation expects additional deterioration this year.
In July 2026, BOR, under acting Commissioner Scott J. Cameron, released their “temporary” final environmental impact statement (EIS) for Lake Powell and Lake Mead, covering 10 years after states failed to agree on a replacement for the 2007 guidelines, which expire this year calling for, among other things cuts up to 3 million acre‑feet/year in Lower Basin states (Arizona, California, Nevada) during dry years — nearly double the 1.6 Maf/year proposed by those states.
Meanwhile John Entsminger, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority and Nevada’s lead negotiator on river rights, during an annual water conservation summit hosted by Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV) in Las Vegas on Wednesday Aug. 12th commented on the EIS, saying, “At the end of the day, we have to protect our legal interests,”
And in Nevada, Democratic Governor challenger Attorney General Aaron Ford is not taking positions on a proposal that taxpayers subsidize a water-consuming data center approved on federal land outside Boulder City and Governor Jo Lombardo, a strong and vocal backer of the water-consuming data center industry in Nevada, did not respond to questions about the data center proposed to him by Titus, her spokesman Dick Cooper said.