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 Page, Arizona.

Rj Sangosti| Medianews Group | The Denver Publish through Getty Photos

The federal government on Tuesday introduced it'll delay the release of water from one of the Colorado River's main reservoirs, an unprecedented motion that may quickly handle declining reservoir ranges fueled by the historic Western drought.

The decision will hold extra water in Lake Powell, the reservoir situated at the Glen Canyon Dam in northern Arizona, instead of releasing it downstream to Lake Mead, the river's other major reservoir.

The actions come as water ranges at both reservoirs reached their lowest levels on record. Lake Powell's water stage is at the moment at an elevation of three,523 feet. If the extent drops under 3,490 feet, the so-called minimum energy pool, the Glen Canyon Dam, which provides electricity for about 5.8 million customers in the inland West, will not be capable of generate electrical energy.

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

Officers mentioned the actions will help save water, shield the dam's capability to supply hydropower and supply officials with extra time to determine operate the dam at lower water ranges.

"We've by no means taken this step before in the Colorado Basin," assistant Interior Division secretary Tanya Trujillo told reporters on Tuesday. "But the conditions we see in the present day, and what we see on the horizon, demand that we take prompt motion."

Federal officers 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 nearly 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 contemplating taking emergency motion to handle declining water levels at Lake Powell.

Later that month, representatives from the states sent a letter to the Interior agreeing with the proposal and requesting that short-term reductions in releases from Lake Powell be applied with out triggering additional water cuts in any of the states.

The megadrought in the western U.S. has fueled the driest two decades in the region in no less than 1,200 years, with conditions likely to continue 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 changing, our actions are accountable for that, and we've got to take responsible action to reply," Trujillo mentioned. "We all need to work collectively to protect the resources we've got and the declining water supplies in the Colorado River that our communities depend on."