Lake Powell Glen Canyon Dam water launch delayed because of 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 through Getty Images

The federal government on Tuesday introduced it'll delay the release of water from one of many Colorado River's main reservoirs, an unprecedented action that may quickly address declining reservoir levels fueled by the historic Western drought.

The choice will hold extra water in Lake Powell, the reservoir positioned on the Glen Canyon Dam in northern Arizona, instead of releasing it downstream to Lake Mead, the river's other major reservoir.

The actions come as water ranges at both reservoirs reached their lowest ranges on record. Lake Powell's water stage is at the moment at an elevation of three,523 ft. If the level drops below 3,490 toes, the so-called minimal energy pool, the Glen Canyon Dam, which provides electricity for about 5.8 million customers in the inland West, will no longer be able to generate electrical energy.

The delay is expected to protect operations at the dam for subsequent 12 months, officers stated throughout a press briefing on Tuesday, and can keep practically 500,000 acre-feet of water in Lake Powell. Underneath a separate plan, officers will also release about 500,000 acre-feet of water into Lake Powell from Flaming Gorge, a reservoir positioned upstream on the Utah-Wyoming border.

Officials mentioned the actions will help save water, defend the dam's capability to provide hydropower and supply officers with more time to figure out methods to function the dam at lower water levels.

"We have by no means taken this step earlier than in the Colorado Basin," assistant Inside Department secretary Tanya Trujillo informed reporters on Tuesday. "However the situations we see at present, and what we see on the horizon, demand that we take immediate action."

Federal officers last 12 months 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 within the West. The cuts have mostly affected farmers in Arizona, who use almost three-quarters of the accessible water supply to irrigate their crops.

In April, federal water managers warned the seven states that draw from the Colorado River that the federal government was considering 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 temporary reductions in releases from Lake Powell be applied without triggering further water cuts in any of the states.

The megadrought within the western U.S. has fueled the driest 20 years in the region in at the least 1,200 years, with situations prone to proceed via 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 changing, our actions are chargeable for that, and we have now to take accountable motion to reply," Trujillo mentioned. "We all must work collectively to guard the resources we have and the declining water provides in the Colorado River that our communities depend on."