What Happens If Lake Mead Dries Up Forever?

As Lake Mead's water level drops, so does its water quality. According to the National Park Service, contaminants from the newly exposed shorelines are reentering warm, shallow areas and becoming more concentrated. And this is just the beginning of what could happen if the lake keeps drying up.

In the desert of California lies another manmade lake condemned to death, the Salton Sea. As CNBC notes, it was once a thriving recreational area in the mid-1900s. But, as the drought took hold, things went horribly wrong. Salt and toxins from years of agricultural runoff began to concentrate in the water as the majority of the lake evaporated, becoming too caustic to support an aquatic ecosystem. Businesses, fish, and birds alike went belly-up. Today, it is a wasteland. Bacteria-produced hydrogen sulfide from the dying lake causes the whole area to reek of rotten eggs, and toxic dust billows from the lake's dry edges, negatively impacting the health of residents in its neighboring communities. As Frank Ruiz, the National Audubon Society's Salton Sea program director, told CNBC, "People here used to fish, swim, bring their boats. They went from living in paradise to living in hell."

According to Richard Thomas in The San Diego Union-Tribune, we can expect to see something similar happen if Lake Mead dries up. Real estate in the lakeside communities of Boulder City, Meadview, and Henderson would likely plummet. Locals who once enjoyed a beautiful lake in their backyard and relied on tourism for income would be faced with a cruel choice: leave or stay in the mess.