USGS Activities in Nevada Water-Quality Monitoring at Lake Mead

Water Resources of Nevada

Lake Mead on the Colorado River is one of the most intensely used reservoirs in the western United States, providing recreational watercraft activities and domestic drinking, industrial, and irrigation water for over 22 million users. The quality of this water must be maintained to guarantee a reliable and safe resource for its many uses. Inflow into Lake Mead primarily is from the Colorado River; however, about 3 percent of the inflow is from tributaries on the northern side of the Lake and from Las Vegas Wash on the northwest side of the Lake.

Aerial view of Lake Mead showing platform locations

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Southern Nevada Water Authority and the National Park Service (NPS) is monitoring water quality on a "real-time" basis at five floating platforms on Lake Mead. Two of the platforms are located in the Boulder Basin of Lake Mead, in Las Vegas Bay and near Sentinel Island; a third platform is located in the Overton Arm Basin near the confluence of the Muddy and Virgin Rivers; the fourth platform is located in the Virgin Basin, near the Narrows, which separates the Virgin and Boulder Basins; and the fifth platform is located in Temple Basin near the Temple Bar Marina. In addition to monitoring water quality, meteorological data are collected at the Sentinel Island platform, in cooperation with the Clark County Water Reclamation District, and at the Virgin, Overton Arm, and Temple Basin platforms in cooperation with NPS. Water-quality and meteorological data are available on this web site and can be accessed by clicking on a site on the map or on the heading tabs.

The water-quality and meteorological parameters measured at the indicated sites include

Water Temperature
pH
Specific Conductance
Dissolved Oxygen
Turbidity
Percent Fluorescence

Air Temperature
Wind Speed and Direction
Relative Humidity
Solar Radiation
Barometric Pressure