In pictures: Dangerous drought arrives early in the western United States News from the US and Canada News

Historically low-level lakes, unusual forest fires, water use restrictions, and a potential heat wave are now on record: the U.S. is suffering from the effects of a chronic drought that has worsened climate change before the summer began.

According to official data, eighty-eight percent of Westerners have been in a state of drought this week, including all states in California, Oregon, Utah and Nevada.

A particularly vivid symptom of this trend affecting more than 143 million Americans, Lake Mead – the country’s largest reservoir, located on the border of Nevada and Arizona – is now at its lowest level since its inception in the 1930s.

The lake, created when the giant Hoover Dam was built along the Colorado River not far from Las Vegas, is only 36 percent, despite a record high in 2016.

Authorities expected something like this, but not until August.

The situation in northern California, which has a lot of rainfall in winter and spring, is no better. Lake Oroville, the second largest reservoir in the state and a key part of the network that supplies drinking water to 27 million Californians, is 50 meters (165 feet) lower than in 2019.

Extensive restrictions on water use appear inevitable in the coming months, which could be severe for western states, especially for irrigated farmers, who provide a lot of the country’s fruits and vegetables.

In California, which supplies 80 percent of its extensive almond production, some farmers have already begun uprooting trees to save water.

As of April 1, the day that traditionally marked the last snowfall in the area, the snow pack on the upper slopes of the Sierra Nevada – roughly a third of all water used in California – was only 60% of the average.

“Really, the only thing this year is that as the snow melted, the spills soaked and evaporated the dry land,” John Yarbrough, an official with the California Water Resources Department, told AFP.

“So it was unusual this year. How little we got out of that snow pack.”

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, one-third of California is currently experiencing “extraordinary drought,” the worst level.

Dry soils and water-contaminated plants create conditions for even higher temperatures, feeding the destructive vicious circle.

Meteorologists have issued heat warnings that Las Vegas, for example, could hit 115 Fahrenheit (46 Celsius), breaking the 1940 record.

Authorities are particularly concerned about forest fires that have arrived at a rare intensity earlier this year. By the end of May, California fires had already destroyed vegetation five times more than last year.