Las Vegas Is Running Out of Water — Here Is the Backup Plan

In October 2026 the Lake Mead water level was the lowest since 1937; Las Vegas still drinks from it. How three intakes, a tunnel bored three miles under the lake and a pumping station 500 feet down were built to keep Southern Nevada's water flowing. Every map, satellite view and figure is sourced, and the sources are listed below. On 21 October 2026 the US Bureau of Reclamation's daily reading put Lake Mead at 1,037.19 ft; its weekly update for 18 October gave 26% full. The Southern Nevada Water Authority says about 90 percent of the region's supply is Colorado River water, drawn from Lake Mead. Chapters 0:00 One lake, one city 1:57 The first straw 2:43 A deeper straw 3:30 The lake falls 4:13 Three miles under the lake 5:51 The catch 6:24 The second machine 7:37 Where it stands Sources Southern Nevada Water Authority — Intake 3 and Low Lake Level Pumping Station — https://www.snwa.com/infrastructure-i... Southern Nevada Water Authority — Intake No. 3 — https://www.snwa.com/where-southern-n... Southern Nevada Water Authority — 2026 Water Resource Plan (PDF) — https://www.snwa.com/assets/pdf/water... Southern Nevada Water Authority — Major Construction and Capital Plan 2020 (PDF) — https://www.snwa.com/assets/pdf/repor... Southern Nevada Water Authority — Water shortages — https://www.snwa.com/water-resources/... Southern Nevada Water Authority — Treatment and Testing — https://www.snwa.com/water-quality/tr... Southern Nevada Water Authority — Lake Mead Pumping Stations (infographic, July 2022) — https://www.snwa.com/assets/images/pu... Southern Nevada Water Authority — Intake No. 3 (Internet Archive capture, 19 Jan 2013) — https://web.archive.org/web/201301190... Southern Nevada Water Authority — Intake No. 3 tunnel reaches destination under Lake Mead, 10 Dec 2014 (Internet Archive capture) — http://web.archive.org/web/2016121523... Southern Nevada Water Authority — Intake System Improvements (Internet Archive capture, 4 Jul 2017) — http://web.archive.org/web/2017070405... Southern Nevada Water Authority — Low lake level pumping station (Internet Archive capture, 6 Jun 2017) — https://web.archive.org/web/201706061... Southern Nevada Water Authority — Project notice, Contract 070F 05 C1, Lake Mead Intake No. 2 Connection and Modifications (2008, Internet Archive capture) — http://web.archive.org/web/2008051014... … and 18 more in the pinned comment Credits NASA Johnson Space Center (ISS072-E-399146), public domain Christian David, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., cropped: https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... U.S. Geological Survey, public domain NASA Earth Observatory, images by Lauren Dauphin (Landsat); NASA imagery, public domain National Archives, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum (31-al21-260), public domain Carol M. Highsmith's America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, public domain NASA Johnson Space Center (ISS065-E-1327), public domain NASA Scientific Visualization Studio (Marit Jentoft-Nilsen); Landsat data, USGS; public domain U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, public domain Bureau of Reclamation / Christopher Clark, "Lake Mead Water Level July 2022", CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., cropped: https://www.flickr.com/photos/usbr/52... Renee Grayson, "The Las Vegas Wash and the Clark County Wetlands at Sunrise", CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., cropped: https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Map: Natural Earth (public domain) Headwater explains how famous places get, hold back and move water, with real maps, satellite images and every figure sourced.