Lake Powell Glen Canyon Dam water release 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 Post by way of Getty Photos

The federal authorities on Tuesday announced it will delay the release of water from one of the Colorado River's main reservoirs, an unprecedented motion that may temporarily tackle declining reservoir levels fueled by the historic Western drought.

The decision will hold extra water in Lake Powell, the reservoir located on the Glen Canyon Dam in northern Arizona, as a substitute of releasing it downstream to Lake Mead, the river's different main reservoir.

The actions come as water ranges at each reservoirs reached their lowest levels on record. Lake Powell's water degree is presently at an elevation of three,523 toes. If the extent drops below 3,490 toes, the so-called minimum energy pool, the Glen Canyon Dam, which supplies electrical energy for about 5.8 million clients within the inland West, will no longer be capable to generate electricity.

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

Officers said the actions will assist save water, shield the dam's skill to provide hydropower and supply officials with extra time to figure out how to operate the dam at lower water ranges.

"Now we have by no means taken this step earlier than in the Colorado Basin," assistant Interior Division secretary Tanya Trujillo advised reporters on Tuesday. "But the situations we see at present, and what we see on the horizon, demand that we take prompt motion."

Federal officers last year ordered the first-ever water cuts for the Colorado River Basin, which provides water to greater than 40 million individuals and a few 2.5 million acres of croplands within the West. The cuts have principally affected farmers in Arizona, who use nearly 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 address declining water levels at Lake Powell.

Later that month, representatives from the states despatched a letter to the Interior agreeing with the proposal and requesting that non permanent reductions in releases from Lake Powell be carried out without triggering further water cuts in any of the states.

The megadrought within the western U.S. has fueled the driest twenty years within the region in at the least 1,200 years, with situations more likely to proceed via 2022 and persist for years. Researchers have estimated that 42% of the drought's severity is attributable to human-caused climate change.

"Our climate is altering, our actions are accountable for that, and we have to take accountable motion to reply," Trujillo mentioned. "All of us must work collectively to protect the sources we have and the declining water provides in the Colorado River that our communities rely on."