The Gila River is among the Southwest’s most important rivers, delivering water for people, farms, and wildlife while linking the snow-fed mountains of southwestern New Mexico to the desert lowlands of southwestern Arizona.
希拉河是西南部最重要的河流之一，为人类、农场和野生动物提供水源，同时将新墨西哥州西南部冰雪覆盖的山脉与亚利桑那州西南部的沙漠低地连接起来。
In wetter years, seasonal snowfall on the Mogollon Mountains and Black Range provides much of the river’s spring flow and helps refill San Carlos Reservoir, which is formed by the Coolidge Dam . When filled to capacity, the reservoir is one of Arizona’s largest bodies of water.
在潮湿的年份，莫戈隆山脉和布莱克山脉的季节性降雪提供了河流的大部分泉水，并有助于补充由柯立芝大坝形成的圣卡洛斯水库。当水库蓄满时，它是亚利桑那州最大的水体之一。
However, in 2026, lackluster snowfall left the mountain snowpack in the Gila River watershed at 2 percent of the 1991-2020 March median. The limited snowpack pushed April streamflow to 39 percent of normal. By June, after mandatory water releases for downstream agriculture, the reservoir held less than 400 acre-feet of water.
然而，2026 年，降雪平淡，吉拉河流域的山地积雪仅为 1991 年至 2020 年 3 月中值的 2%。有限的积雪使 4 月份的流量达到正常水平的 39%。到 6 月，在下游农业强制放水后，水库的蓄水量不足 400 英亩-英尺。
The Landsat image above (right) shows the near-empty reservoir on May 22, 2026, when it stored 389 acre-feet of water—less than 1 percent full; the other image (left) shows the same area in June 2023, when it was about 60 percent full. The green vegetation growing along the river channel and reservoir edge includes a mixture of tamarisk, willow, cottonwood, sedges, and grasses.
上图（右）的 Landsat 图像显示了 2026 年 5 月 22 日几乎空了的水库，当时水库蓄水量为 389 英亩-英尺，蓄水量还不到 1%；另一张图（左）显示了 2023 年 6 月的同一区域，当时的容量约为 60%。河道和水库边缘生长的绿色植被包括柽柳、柳树、三叶杨、莎草和草类。
Officials closed the reservoir indefinitely on June 5, 2026, after the declining water levels contributed to low oxygen levels— hypoxia —that killed virtually all of its fish. Species living in the reservoir included largemouth bass, black crappie, bluegill, channel catfish, flathead catfish, and several stocked species, including brown trout and rainbow trout. The decomposing fish may pose health risks to people attempting to boat or fish, the San Carlos Recreation and Wildlife Department warned.
2026 年 6 月 5 日，官方无限期关闭了水库，原因是水位下降导致低氧水平（即缺氧），导致几乎所有鱼类死亡。水库中生活的物种包括大口黑鲈、黑鲈、翻车鱼、斑点叉尾鮰、平头鲶鱼以及多种放养物种，包括褐鳟和虹鳟。圣卡洛斯娱乐和野生动物部门警告说，腐烂的鱼可能会对试图划船或钓鱼的人造成健康风险。
The reservoir has hit similarly low water levels in the past, running out of water at least 20 times since it was filled in 1930, according to news reports . Even when the dam and reservoir were first dedicated, there was enough grass growing on the dried reservoir bottom that humorist Will Rogers famously quipped to President Calvin Coolidge: “If that was my lake, I’d mow it.”
据新闻报道，该水库过去也曾出现过类似的低水位，自 1930 年蓄水以来，至少已缺水 20 次。即使在大坝和水库首次投入使用时，干涸的水库底部也长出了足够的草，幽默家威尔·罗杰斯对卡尔文·柯立芝总统有一句著名的俏皮话：“如果那是我的湖，我会割草它。”
Other years with major fish kills include 1976 and 2018. After more than 5 million fish died during a similar event in 1976, the Gila Herald reported that it took five years for the lake’s ecosystem to rebound.
其他鱼类大量死亡的年份包括 1976 年和 2018 年。在 1976 年的类似事件中，超过 500 万条鱼死亡后，《吉拉先驱报》报道称，该湖的生态系统花了五年时间才得以恢复。
The region is currently in the midst of a multi-year dry period that has left much of the Gila River’s headwaters in New Mexico in a state of severe drought , according to data from the U.S. Drought Monitor.
根据美国干旱监测中心的数据，该地区目前正处于多年干旱期，新墨西哥州吉拉河源头的大部分地区处于严重干旱状态。
However, the river’s flow is highly variable, and heavy rains during the coming wet season could help the reservoir recover. A seasonal monsoon outlook released by NOAA in May 2026 projected a 33 to 50 percent chance that an above-average amount of rain would fall in the region that summer. El Niño in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, which was strengthening in late spring 2026, can make heavy rains in the U.S. Southwest more likely.
然而，河流的流量变化很大，即将到来的雨季的大雨可能有助于水库的恢复。美国国家海洋和大气管理局 (NOAA) 于 2026 年 5 月发布的季节性季风展望预计，该地区今年夏季的降雨量有 33% 至 50% 的可能性将高于平均水平。赤道太平洋中部和东部的厄尔尼诺现象于 2026 年春末加强，可能使美国西南部更有可能出现大雨。
NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey . Story by Adam Voiland.
NASA 地球观测站图像，由 Michala Garrison 使用美国地质调查局的陆地卫星数据拍摄。亚当·沃伊兰的故事。