LAS VEGAS (AP) - Federal officials say the wettest year in more than a decade will let Colorado River water managers send more water to drought-ravaged Lake Mead this year.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation says the reservoir behind Hoover Dam should rise almost 20 feet in the next 10 months.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that bureau officials will send
11.56 million acre-feet of water through the Grand Canyon from Lake Powell to Lake Mead this year.
On average, the bureau sends a minimum of 8.23 million acre-feet of water from Lake Powell to Lake Mead per year.
The allotment should avoid a shortage declaration that would have required Nevada and Arizona to cut river water use.
The Las Vegas area draws about 90 percent of its drinking water from Lake Mead.
