Lake Powell officials take emergency steps to protect hydropower from Glen Canyon Dam

Step one is releasing extra water from upstream on the Colorado River this year. The second is water shall be held back in Lake Powell itself, as an alternative of being despatched to downstream states.

The US Bureau of Reclamation expects the twin actions will enhance Lake Powell by nearly 1 million acre-feet of water. The reservoir contained about 5.8 million acre-feet of water as of Tuesday, in response to the bureau, although its full capability is round 25 million acre-feet.

Without the emergency steps, the bureau estimated there was about a 25% chance the Glen Canyon Dam may have stopped producing hydropower by January. The dam generates energy for as many as 5.8 million homes and businesses in seven states.

The agency mentioned in a statement Tuesday's resolution was meant to guard "hydropower technology, the power's key infrastructure, and the water supply for the town of Web page, Arizona, and the LeChee Chapter of the Navajo Nation."

The emergency actions will purchase the federal government 12 months because it considers longer-term measures.

"We now have by no means taken this step before, however the potential risk on the horizon demands immediate motion," Assistant Secretary of Water and Science, Tanya Trujillo advised reporters. "We have to work collectively to stabilize the reservoir before we face a larger crisis."

Lake Powell has dropped around 100 feet within the final three years because the West has been besieged by drought. As the water level has fallen, Glen Canyon Dam has lost about 16% of its capacity to generate power.

Bryan Hill, general supervisor of the general public energy utility in Web page, Arizona, likened the state of affairs to judgment day.

"We're knocking on the door of judgment day," Hill beforehand told CNN. "Judgment day being when we don't have any water to provide anybody."

The choices made for Lake Powell additionally have an effect on its downstream neighbor, Lake Mead, which is the biggest reservoir within the nation.

Water cuts for those who depend on Lake Mead began in January, and Tuesday's choice might lead to additional restrictions.

Lake Mead's water level is now low enough to reveal one of many reservoir's original, 1971 water intake valves for the primary time. The valve can not draw water, in response to the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the company liable for managing water resources for 2.2 million people in southern Nevada, including Las Vegas.

Officers over the weekend made another disturbing discovery brought on by Lake Mead's plummeting water degree: a body in a barrel police say is a possible homicide sufferer from the Eighties.

"The lake has drained dramatically over the last 15 years," said Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Homicide Lieutenant Ray Spencer. "It's likely that we'll find further our bodies which were dumped in Lake Mead" because the water level drops extra.