A 'bathtub ring' surrounds Lake Mead near Hoover Dam, which impounds the Colorado River at the Arizona-Nevada border, on March 30, 2016

The publication noted that the reservoir's flows declined over the last 16 years because of persistent drought.

Lake Mead, located in Nevada along the Colorado River, has declined to its lowest level since it was first filled during the 1930s, according to The Desert Sun.

"This problem is not going away and it is likely to get worse, perhaps far worse, as climate change unfolds," Brad Udall, a senior water and climate research scientist at Colorado State University, told The Desert Sun.

"Unprecedented high temperatures in the basin are causing the flow of the river to decline," he told the paper. "The good news is that we have time and the smarts to manage this, if all the states work together."



A shortage would be declared if the reservoir's is projected to be below elevation of 1,075 feet at the start of the following year. Currently, Lake Mead's level is at 1,074 feet in elevation.

The Bureau of Reclamation has calculated the odds of a shortage in 2017 at 10 percent. However, the projection for 2018 is at a staggering 59 percent, according to The Desert Sun.

Read the full report from The Desert Sun.