Feds project Lake Mead water level below trigger point in 2017; Arizona, Nevada could see cuts

Water intake pipes that were once underwater sit above the water line along Lake Mead in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Monday, May 18, 2015, near Boulder City, Nev. Federal water managers are projecting Lake Mead will drop to levels in January 2017 that could force supply cuts to Arizona and Nevada. (AP Photo/John Locher) (The Associated Press)

Plants grow out of dry cracked ground that was once underwater near Boulder Beach in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Monday, May 18, 2015, near Boulder City, Nev. Federal water managers are projecting Lake Mead will drop to levels in January 2017 that could force supply cuts to Arizona and Nevada. (AP Photo/John Locher) (The Associated Press)

People prepare to launch watercraft as wind kicks up dust on an area that was once underwater at the Boulder Harbor boat ramp in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Monday, May 18, 2015, near Boulder City, Nev. Federal water managers are projecting Lake Mead will drop to levels in January 2017 that could force supply cuts to Arizona and Nevada. (AP Photo/John Locher) (The Associated Press)

Federal water managers are projecting Lake Mead will drop to levels in January 2017 that could force supply cuts to Arizona and Nevada.

Arizona's water allocation could be cut 11.4 percent and Nevada's by about 4.3 percent.

A closely watched U.S. Bureau of Reclamation report released Monday predicts water levels will be just 2 feet above a trigger point next January on the Colorado River reservoir supplying much of the Southwest's drinking water.

The so-called interim guidelines chart a decline leading to a declaration of a shortage the following year.

Operations chief Dan Bunk says it all depends on the weather.

Lake Mead on Monday was 37 percent full, with a surface level 1,077 feet above sea level. That's down 144 feet from full in 1983.

The trigger point is at 1,075 feet.