Uploaded on 2016-08-28 by Tobias Dörnenburg

This picture from a vacation to the USA shows the Hoover Dam in the greater area of Las Vegas. It dams the Colorado River and creates Lake Mead. The Hoover Dam is the key infrastructure for water and energy supply for Las Vegas and the surrounding towns. The hydropower plant generates most of the energy needed and Lake Mead is also the key water storage for the region. After many years of drought, a white bathtub ring of mineral deposits now encircles Lake Mead. This is the evidence of dropping water levels. If the dropping continues a lot of problems occur: 1. decreasing water storage is very bad for the future of a large city in the desert in general and 2. it leads to less pressure on the turbines which results in less efficient power generation.