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

The first step is releasing more water from upstream on the Colorado River this 12 months. The second is water will probably 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 nearly 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, although its full capability is around 25 million acre-feet.

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

The company mentioned in a press release Tuesday's decision was supposed to protect "hydropower generation, 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 because it considers longer-term measures.

"Now we have by no means taken this step earlier than, however the potential threat on the horizon demands immediate motion," Assistant Secretary of Water and Science, Tanya Trujillo advised reporters. "We need to work together to stabilize the reservoir earlier than we face a larger crisis."

Lake Powell has dropped around 100 toes in the final three years because the West has been besieged by drought. As the water degree has fallen, Glen Canyon Dam has lost about 16% of its capacity to generate energy.

Bryan Hill, common supervisor of the public power utility in Web page, Arizona, likened the situation to judgment day.

"We're knocking on the door of judgment day," Hill beforehand advised CNN. "Judgment day being when we don't have any water to offer anybody."

The choices made for Lake Powell additionally have an effect on its downstream neighbor, Lake Mead, which is the largest reservoir in the nation.

Water cuts for individuals who rely on Lake Mead started in January, and Tuesday's resolution could lead to further restrictions.

Lake Mead's water level is now low sufficient to reveal one of the reservoir's unique, 1971 water consumption valves for the primary time. The valve can now not draw water, in accordance with the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the agency responsible for managing water assets for 2.2 million people in southern Nevada, together with Las Vegas.

Officers over the weekend made another disturbing discovery brought on by Lake Mead's plummeting water degree: a physique in a barrel police say is a likely homicide sufferer from the 1980s.

"The lake has drained dramatically over the last 15 years," mentioned Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Murder Lieutenant Ray Spencer. "It's probably that we are going to find further our bodies which have been dumped in Lake Mead" because the water stage drops more.