CRATER LAKE, OREGON - The U.S. National Park Service announced today that Crater Lake is officially empty of all water.
Once known as the deepest lake in the U.S. and the 7th deepest lake in the world, Crater Lake is now the deepest empty lake in the U.S.
According to NPS Park Ranger, Leo Carstairs, "It took approximately 250 years for Crater Lake to fill to its deepest maximum level which is 1,949 feet, because the average annual precipitation used to be 66 in. and the average annual snowfall was 44 ft. Unfortunately, once the drought hit 7 years ago, things changed dramatically."
Severe drought throughout the western U.S. forced the federal government to confiscate all water rights. Through an Army Corp of Engineers Mega Engineering Project, a giant water pipe, stretching 212 miles, was built overland through a variety of terrain to reach its final destination - Shasta Lake.
"It only took two years to completely empty Crater Lake," explained Carstairs, "and it all went to Shasta Lake, so people in California would have drinking water."
California, which is experiencing the worst drought in 500 years, has been at Extreme Water Conservation Status for several years. All water is monitored by Federal Government Water Agents, who oversee specified quadrants of land from thousands of stations throughout the state. Water violators are severely prosecuted.
