Lake Powell Glen Canyon Dam water release delayed resulting from 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 Submit by way of Getty Photos

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

The decision will maintain more water in Lake Powell, the reservoir positioned on the Glen Canyon Dam in northern Arizona, as an alternative of releasing it downstream to Lake Mead, the river's other primary reservoir.

The actions come as water ranges at each reservoirs reached their lowest ranges on record. Lake Powell's water level is at the moment at an elevation of 3,523 ft. If the extent drops below 3,490 feet, the so-called minimal energy pool, the Glen Canyon Dam, which supplies electricity for about 5.8 million prospects within the inland West, will not have the ability to generate electricity.

The delay is predicted to guard operations on the dam for next 12 months, officers said throughout a press briefing on Tuesday, and can keep practically 500,000 acre-feet of water in Lake Powell. Beneath a separate plan, officials may even launch about 500,000 acre-feet of water into Lake Powell from Flaming Gorge, a reservoir situated upstream on the Utah-Wyoming border.

Officers stated the actions will assist save water, defend the dam's potential to produce hydropower and supply officials with more time to determine the way to function the dam at decrease water ranges.

"We have now never taken this step before in the Colorado Basin," assistant Interior Division secretary Tanya Trujillo instructed reporters on Tuesday. "However the situations we see immediately, and what we see on the horizon, demand that we take immediate action."

Federal officials final yr 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 principally affected farmers in Arizona, who use practically three-quarters of the available 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 considering taking emergency action 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 non permanent reductions in releases from Lake Powell be applied without triggering further water cuts in any of the states.

The megadrought within the western U.S. has fueled the driest 20 years in the area in not less than 1,200 years, with circumstances likely 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 altering, our actions are responsible for that, and we've to take responsible motion to reply," Trujillo said. "We all need to work collectively to protect the resources we've got and the declining water supplies within the Colorado River that our communities depend on."