Lake Powell Glen Canyon Dam water launch delayed as a result 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 Images

The federal government on Tuesday introduced it should delay the discharge of water from one of the Colorado River's major reservoirs, an unprecedented motion that can briefly address declining reservoir levels fueled by the historic Western drought.

The choice will keep more 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 ranges on file. Lake Powell's water stage is presently at an elevation of three,523 ft. If the extent drops beneath 3,490 toes, the so-called minimum power pool, the Glen Canyon Dam, which supplies electrical energy for about 5.8 million customers in the inland West, will no longer be able to generate electricity.

The delay is anticipated to protect operations at the dam for subsequent 12 months, officers stated throughout a press briefing on Tuesday, and will keep nearly 500,000 acre-feet of water in Lake Powell. Beneath a separate plan, officers will also launch about 500,000 acre-feet of water into Lake Powell from Flaming Gorge, a reservoir situated upstream on the Utah-Wyoming border.

Officials mentioned the actions will assist save water, shield the dam's capability to supply hydropower and supply officers with extra time to figure out operate the dam at lower water ranges.

"We have now by no means taken this step before within the Colorado Basin," assistant Interior Division secretary Tanya Trujillo advised reporters on Tuesday. "But the circumstances we see as we speak, and what we see on the horizon, demand that we take immediate motion."

Federal officials final year ordered the first-ever water cuts for the Colorado River Basin, which provides water to greater than 40 million people and a few 2.5 million acres of croplands in the West. The cuts have mostly 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 contemplating taking emergency motion to handle declining water ranges at Lake Powell.

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

The megadrought in the western U.S. has fueled the driest 20 years within the area in not less than 1,200 years, with situations likely to proceed 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 altering, our actions are answerable for that, and we've got to take accountable motion to reply," Trujillo stated. "We all must work collectively to protect the sources now we have and the declining water supplies within the Colorado River that our communities rely on."