Lake Powell Glen Canyon Dam water release delayed as a consequence of drought

Water levels are at a historic low at Lake Powell on April 5, 2022 in Web page, Arizona.

Rj Sangosti| Medianews Group | The Denver Post via Getty Images

The federal authorities on Tuesday announced it's going to delay the discharge of water from one of many Colorado River's major reservoirs, an unprecedented motion that will temporarily handle declining reservoir levels fueled by the historic Western drought.

The decision will preserve extra water in Lake Powell, the reservoir situated on the Glen Canyon Dam in northern Arizona, as an alternative of releasing it downstream to Lake Mead, the river's other primary reservoir.

The actions come as water ranges at both reservoirs reached their lowest levels on record. Lake Powell's water degree is currently at an elevation of 3,523 ft. If the extent drops under 3,490 ft, the so-called minimum energy pool, the Glen Canyon Dam, which supplies electricity for about 5.8 million prospects in the inland West, will not be able to generate electricity.

The delay is predicted to protect operations on the dam for next 12 months, officials said throughout a press briefing on Tuesday, and can preserve almost 500,000 acre-feet of water in Lake Powell. Underneath a separate plan, officials will even launch about 500,000 acre-feet of water into Lake Powell from Flaming Gorge, a reservoir located upstream on the Utah-Wyoming border.

Officers mentioned the actions will help save water, shield the dam's means to supply hydropower and supply officials with more time to determine find out how to operate the dam at lower water levels.

"We've got by no means taken this step earlier than in the Colorado Basin," assistant Inside Department secretary Tanya Trujillo advised reporters on Tuesday. "But the situations we see immediately, and what we see on the horizon, demand that we take immediate motion."

Federal officers last yr ordered the first-ever water cuts for the Colorado River Basin, which supplies water to more than 40 million folks and some 2.5 million acres of croplands in the West. The cuts have largely affected farmers in Arizona, who use nearly three-quarters of the available water supply to irrigate their crops.

In April, federal water managers warned the seven states that draw from the Colorado River that the government was considering taking emergency motion to deal with declining water ranges at Lake Powell.

Later that month, representatives from the states sent a letter to the Inside agreeing with the proposal and requesting that momentary reductions in releases from Lake Powell be implemented without triggering further water cuts in any of the states.

The megadrought within the western U.S. has fueled the driest 20 years within the region in at the least 1,200 years, with circumstances prone to proceed through 2022 and persist for years. Researchers have estimated that 42% of the drought's severity is attributable to human-caused local weather change.

"Our climate is altering, our actions are liable for that, and we've to take responsible action to respond," Trujillo mentioned. "We all have to work together to guard the resources we have now and the declining water provides in the Colorado River that our communities rely on."