Lake Powell officials take emergency steps to protect hydropower from Glen Canyon Dam

The first step is releasing extra water from upstream on the Colorado River this 12 months. The second is water can be held back in Lake Powell itself, as a substitute of being sent to downstream states.

The US Bureau of Reclamation expects the dual actions will boost Lake Powell by almost 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 around 25 million acre-feet.

Without the emergency steps, the bureau estimated there was a few 25% likelihood the Glen Canyon Dam may have stopped producing hydropower by January. The dam generates energy for as many as 5.8 million homes and companies in seven states.

The company mentioned in an announcement Tuesday's resolution was supposed to guard "hydropower technology, the power's key infrastructure, and the water supply 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.

"We've got never taken this step before, but the potential threat on the horizon calls for immediate action," Assistant Secretary of Water and Science, Tanya Trujillo advised reporters. "We have to work collectively to stabilize the reservoir earlier than we face a bigger disaster."

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

Bryan Hill, common 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 informed CNN. "Judgment day being when we don't have any water to give anybody."

The decisions made for Lake Powell additionally affect its downstream neighbor, Lake Mead, which is the biggest reservoir in the nation.

Water cuts for those who depend on Lake Mead started in January, and Tuesday's choice could lead to additional restrictions.

Lake Mead's water level is now low sufficient to reveal one of many reservoir's original, 1971 water consumption valves for the first time. The valve can no longer draw water, in response to the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the agency chargeable for managing water resources for 2.2 million individuals in southern Nevada, together with Las Vegas.

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

"The lake has drained dramatically during the last 15 years," said Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Murder Lieutenant Ray Spencer. "It is probably that we'll find further bodies that have been dumped in Lake Mead" as the water degree drops more.