Let's Talk About Dead Pool: How We Discuss the Shallows of Reservoirs

Abstract The term “dead pool” has been circulating in water resources discourse in multiple ways, prompting confusion about what it means. In this commentary, we aim to clarify the definition of dead pool (and related terms describing critical reservoir elevations) to encourage clearer conversations about reservoir storage decline going forward. We also make two arguments to animate future research about the shallows of reservoirs. First, we suggest that critical reservoir thresholds such as dead pool are better thought of as dynamic and multifaceted rather than as static and singular elevations. Second, we offer a typology that aims to distinguish among three different types of reservoir storage decline. Taken together, a shared vocabulary about reservoir levels and a more nuanced conceptualization of how reservoirs shrink can better situate water scholars and policymakers to understand and manage reservoirs in an era of water overuse and climate change.