Lake Powell officers take emergency steps to preserve hydropower from Glen Canyon Dam

Step one is releasing extra water from upstream on the Colorado River this yr. The second is water will likely be held back in Lake Powell itself, as a substitute of being sent to downstream states.

The US Bureau of Reclamation expects the twin actions will boost Lake Powell by practically 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 capacity is round 25 million acre-feet.

With out the emergency steps, the bureau estimated there was a couple of 25% probability the Glen Canyon Dam might have stopped producing hydropower by January. The dam generates power for as many as 5.8 million houses and businesses in seven states.

The company mentioned in a statement Tuesday's resolution was intended to protect "hydropower era, the ability's key infrastructure, and the water supply for town of Page, Arizona, and the LeChee Chapter of the Navajo Nation."

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

"We have now by no means taken this step before, but the potential risk on the horizon calls for prompt motion," Assistant Secretary of Water and Science, Tanya Trujillo told reporters. "We need to work together to stabilize the reservoir earlier than we face a bigger crisis."

Lake Powell has dropped around 100 feet in the final three years as 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 manager of the public power utility in Page, Arizona, likened the situation to judgment day.

"We're knocking on the door of judgment day," Hill previously advised CNN. "Judgment day being when we have no water to provide anybody."

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

Water cuts for individuals who rely on Lake Mead started in January, and Tuesday's decision may lead to further restrictions.

Lake Mead's water stage is now low enough to reveal one of many reservoir's original, 1971 water consumption valves for the first time. The valve can now not draw water, based on the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the agency chargeable for managing water assets for two.2 million people in southern Nevada, together with Las Vegas.

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

"The lake has drained dramatically over the past 15 years," said Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Murder Lieutenant Ray Spencer. "It's probably that we are going to find extra bodies which have been dumped in Lake Mead" because the water stage drops extra.