Lake Powell Glen Canyon Dam water release delayed due to drought

Water levels are at a historic low at Lake Powell on April 5, 2022 in Web page, Arizona.

Rj Sangosti| Medianews Group | The Denver Post by way of Getty Photos

The federal government on Tuesday announced it would delay the release of water from one of the Colorado River's major reservoirs, an unprecedented action that can quickly handle declining reservoir ranges fueled by the historic Western drought.

The decision will preserve extra water in Lake Powell, the reservoir positioned on the Glen Canyon Dam in northern Arizona, instead 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 record. Lake Powell's water level is at the moment at an elevation of three,523 toes. If the extent drops beneath 3,490 ft, the so-called minimal power pool, the Glen Canyon Dam, which provides electrical energy for about 5.8 million customers in the inland West, will not be capable to generate electricity.

The delay is predicted to guard operations at the dam for next 12 months, officials stated during a press briefing on Tuesday, and can hold practically 500,000 acre-feet of water in Lake Powell. Below a separate plan, officials will also release about 500,000 acre-feet of water into Lake Powell from Flaming Gorge, a reservoir situated upstream at the Utah-Wyoming border.

Officials mentioned the actions will assist save water, protect the dam's skill to produce hydropower and provide officials with more time to figure out learn how to operate the dam at decrease water ranges.

"We have now by no means taken this step earlier than in the Colorado Basin," assistant Inside Division secretary Tanya Trujillo told reporters on Tuesday. "But the circumstances we see right now, and what we see on the horizon, demand that we take immediate motion."

Federal officials last year ordered the first-ever water cuts for the Colorado River Basin, which supplies water to greater than 40 million individuals and some 2.5 million acres of croplands within the West. The cuts have largely affected farmers in Arizona, who use practically three-quarters of the out there water provide 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 action to handle declining water ranges at Lake Powell.

Later that month, representatives from the states despatched a letter to the Interior agreeing with the proposal and requesting that momentary reductions in releases from Lake Powell be implemented with out triggering further water cuts in any of the states.

The megadrought in the western U.S. has fueled the driest 20 years in the area in at least 1,200 years, with situations more likely to proceed by way of 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 now to take responsible motion to reply," Trujillo stated. "We all must work collectively to protect the assets we've got and the declining water provides within the Colorado River that our communities depend on."