The Southern Nevada Water Authority has oked emergency tunneling at Lake Mead to prevent a disaster should water levels drop below the primary intake pipe that supplies Las Vegas and the surrounding area. If the drought doesn’t abate, that could happen by May 2015, if not earlier.
The emergency tunneling is just a $12 million part of a $817 million project to keep the water infrastructure operational. It is a real race against time. I grew up in Connecticut. There were several reservoirs within a few miles and they always had lots of water. If you live in such an area now, be thankful.