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 might be held again in Lake Powell itself, instead of being despatched to downstream states.

The US Bureau of Reclamation expects the dual actions will boost Lake Powell by nearly 1 million acre-feet of water. The reservoir contained about 5.8 million acre-feet of water as of Tuesday, according to the bureau, although its full capability is around 25 million acre-feet.

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

The agency said in a statement Tuesday's resolution was intended to guard "hydropower generation, the facility's key infrastructure, and the water provide for the town of Page, Arizona, and the LeChee Chapter of the Navajo Nation."

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

"Now we have never taken this step earlier than, but the potential danger on the horizon demands 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 larger disaster."

Lake Powell has dropped round 100 ft within the last three years as the West has been besieged by drought. Because the water level has fallen, Glen Canyon Dam has misplaced about 16% of its capacity to generate power.

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

"We're knocking on the door of judgment day," Hill beforehand told CNN. "Judgment day being when we have no water to offer anyone."

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

Water cuts for many who rely on Lake Mead began in January, and Tuesday's determination might result in additional restrictions.

Lake Mead's water stage is now low sufficient to expose one of the reservoir's authentic, 1971 water intake valves for the primary time. The valve can now not draw water, in line with the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the agency liable for managing water assets for two.2 million folks in southern Nevada, together with Las Vegas.

Officers over the weekend made another disturbing discovery introduced on by Lake Mead's plummeting water stage: a body in a barrel police say is a probable murder victim from the Nineteen Eighties.

"The lake has drained dramatically over the past 15 years," stated Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Murder Lieutenant Ray Spencer. "It is likely that we are going to find further our bodies which were dumped in Lake Mead" because the water degree drops more.