Lake Powell Glen Canyon Dam water release delayed resulting from drought

Water ranges 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 Images

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

The decision will keep extra 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 main reservoir.

The actions come as water levels at both reservoirs reached their lowest ranges on file. Lake Powell's water degree is currently at an elevation of three,523 ft. If the level drops under 3,490 ft, the so-called minimal power pool, the Glen Canyon Dam, which provides electricity for about 5.8 million prospects in the inland West, will not be able to generate electricity.

The delay is predicted to protect operations at the dam for next 12 months, officials stated throughout a press briefing on Tuesday, and can maintain nearly 500,000 acre-feet of water in Lake Powell. Underneath 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 mentioned the actions will help save water, defend the dam's capability to supply hydropower and provide officers with more time to determine how you can 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 instructed reporters on Tuesday. "However the circumstances we see right this moment, and what we see on the horizon, demand that we take immediate action."

Federal officials last yr ordered the first-ever water cuts for the Colorado River Basin, which provides water to more than 40 million people and a few 2.5 million acres of croplands within the West. The cuts have mostly affected farmers in Arizona, who use nearly three-quarters of the obtainable water provide 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 action to address declining water ranges at Lake Powell.

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

The megadrought within the western U.S. has fueled the driest 20 years in the region in no less than 1,200 years, with circumstances prone to continue 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 liable for that, and we have now to take accountable motion to reply," Trujillo mentioned. "All of us have to work collectively to protect the assets now we have and the declining water supplies in the Colorado River that our communities depend on."