Lake Powell Glen Canyon Dam water launch delayed as a result of drought

Water ranges are at a historic low at Lake Powell on April 5, 2022 in Page, Arizona.

Rj Sangosti| Medianews Group | The Denver Post via Getty Photos

The federal government on Tuesday announced it'll delay the release of water from one of the Colorado River's main reservoirs, an unprecedented motion that will quickly deal with declining reservoir levels fueled by the historic Western drought.

The choice will hold more 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 major reservoir.

The actions come as water levels at both reservoirs reached their lowest levels on report. Lake Powell's water stage is presently at an elevation of 3,523 feet. If the extent drops under 3,490 toes, the so-called minimal energy pool, the Glen Canyon Dam, which provides electrical energy for about 5.8 million clients in the inland West, will now not be able to generate electricity.

The delay is predicted to protect operations on the dam for subsequent 12 months, officers stated during a press briefing on Tuesday, and will maintain practically 500,000 acre-feet of water in Lake Powell. Under a separate plan, officers may 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 help save water, shield the dam's ability to provide hydropower and supply officers with extra time to determine how to function the dam at lower water ranges.

"We have now never taken this step before in the Colorado Basin," assistant Inside Department secretary Tanya Trujillo instructed reporters on Tuesday. "But the circumstances we see immediately, and what we see on the horizon, demand that we take prompt motion."

Federal officers last yr ordered the first-ever water cuts for the Colorado River Basin, which supplies water to more than 40 million individuals and some 2.5 million acres of croplands in the West. The cuts have largely affected farmers in Arizona, who use almost 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 federal government was contemplating taking emergency action to deal with declining water levels at Lake Powell.

Later that month, representatives from the states despatched 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 within the western U.S. has fueled the driest 20 years within the area in at least 1,200 years, with conditions more 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 local weather change.

"Our local weather is altering, our actions are answerable for that, and we have now to take accountable action to respond," Trujillo said. "We all must work together to guard the resources we've got and the declining water provides in the Colorado River that our communities rely on."