Lake Powell Glen Canyon Dam water release delayed attributable to drought

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

Rj Sangosti| Medianews Group | The Denver Put up via Getty Photos

The federal government on Tuesday introduced it can delay the discharge of water from one of the Colorado River's main reservoirs, an unprecedented action that can briefly tackle declining reservoir ranges fueled by the historic Western drought.

The decision will keep more water in Lake Powell, the reservoir located at the Glen Canyon Dam in northern Arizona, as a substitute of releasing it downstream to Lake Mead, the river's different primary reservoir.

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

The delay is predicted to guard operations at the dam for subsequent 12 months, officers stated throughout a press briefing on Tuesday, and will keep nearly 500,000 acre-feet of water in Lake Powell. Under a separate plan, officials can even launch about 500,000 acre-feet of water into Lake Powell from Flaming Gorge, a reservoir located upstream at the Utah-Wyoming border.

Officers stated the actions will assist save water, protect the dam's capability to provide hydropower and supply officials with more time to figure out operate the dam at decrease water levels.

"We've got by no means taken this step before within the Colorado Basin," assistant Interior Department secretary Tanya Trujillo told reporters on Tuesday. "But the situations we see today, and what we see on the horizon, demand that we take prompt motion."

Federal officials final yr ordered the first-ever water cuts for the Colorado River Basin, which supplies water to greater than 40 million individuals and some 2.5 million acres of croplands in the West. The cuts have largely affected farmers in Arizona, who use almost three-quarters of the out there 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 contemplating taking emergency motion to deal with declining water levels at Lake Powell.

Later that month, representatives from the states sent a letter to the Interior agreeing with the proposal and requesting that short-term reductions in releases from Lake Powell be applied without triggering additional water cuts in any of the states.

The megadrought within the western U.S. has fueled the driest 20 years within the area in a minimum of 1,200 years, with circumstances likely to continue by way of 2022 and persist for years. Researchers have estimated that 42% of the drought's severity is attributable to human-caused climate change.

"Our local weather is changing, our actions are accountable for that, and we've got to take responsible motion to reply," Trujillo stated. "We all need to work together to protect the sources we've and the declining water provides within the Colorado River that our communities depend on."