The US Bureau of Reclamation predicts a Lake Mead level of 1071.59 ft in January 2022, which would trigger a Tier 1 water shortage for Colorado River water. We narrowly avoided this in 2016, when Lake Mead dropped to its lowest level in its history. See the figures below.
Why is 2021 predicted to be worse than 2016? Because the drought is now much deeper.
