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 year. The second is water can be held again in Lake Powell itself, as an alternative of being sent to downstream states.

The US Bureau of Reclamation expects the twin 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 line with the bureau, though its full capacity is round 25 million acre-feet.

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

The company mentioned in a statement Tuesday's resolution was supposed to guard "hydropower era, the power's key infrastructure, and the water supply for town of Web page, Arizona, and the LeChee Chapter of the Navajo Nation."

The emergency actions will buy the federal authorities 12 months as it considers longer-term measures.

"Now we have never taken this step before, but the potential risk on the horizon demands immediate motion," Assistant Secretary of Water and Science, Tanya Trujillo informed reporters. "We need to work collectively to stabilize the reservoir before we face a larger crisis."

Lake Powell has dropped round 100 ft in the last three years because the West has been besieged by drought. Because the water level has fallen, Glen Canyon Dam has lost about 16% of its capability to generate energy.

Bryan Hill, common manager of the public energy utility in Page, Arizona, likened the situation to judgment day.

"We're knocking on the door of judgment day," Hill previously told CNN. "Judgment day being when we have no water to give anyone."

The selections made for Lake Powell also affect its downstream neighbor, Lake Mead, which is the largest reservoir in the nation.

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

Lake Mead's water stage is now low enough to expose one of the reservoir's unique, 1971 water intake valves for the primary time. The valve can now not draw water, in line with the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the agency responsible for managing water assets for two.2 million people in southern Nevada, including Las Vegas.

Officials over the weekend made one other disturbing discovery brought on by Lake Mead's plummeting water degree: a body in a barrel police say is a probable homicide victim from the 1980s.

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