Lake Powell officers 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 will likely be held back in Lake Powell itself, as a substitute of being despatched to downstream states.

The US Bureau of Reclamation expects the dual actions will enhance Lake Powell by practically 1 million acre-feet of water. The reservoir contained about 5.8 million acre-feet of water as of Tuesday, in response to the bureau, although its full capability is round 25 million acre-feet.

With out 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 homes and businesses in seven states.

The agency mentioned in an announcement Tuesday's decision was intended to protect "hydropower era, the power's key infrastructure, and the water provide for town of Web page, Arizona, and the LeChee Chapter of the Navajo Nation."

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

"We have never taken this step before, however the potential danger on the horizon demands immediate motion," Assistant Secretary of Water and Science, Tanya Trujillo told reporters. "We have to work collectively to stabilize the reservoir earlier than we face a bigger disaster."

Lake Powell has dropped round 100 feet in the last three years because the West has been besieged by drought. As the water stage has fallen, Glen Canyon Dam has misplaced about 16% of its capability to generate power.

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

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

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

Water cuts for those who depend on Lake Mead started in January, and Tuesday's decision may result in additional restrictions.

Lake Mead's water stage is now low enough to expose one of many reservoir's original, 1971 water consumption valves for the first time. The valve can not draw water, in keeping with the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the company responsible for managing water resources for two.2 million people in southern Nevada, together with Las Vegas.

Officers over the weekend made another disturbing discovery introduced on by Lake Mead's plummeting water degree: a body in a barrel police say is a possible murder victim from the Nineteen Eighties.

"The lake has drained dramatically over the last 15 years," stated Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Homicide Lieutenant Ray Spencer. "It's doubtless that we are going to discover further bodies which were dumped in Lake Mead" as the water level drops more.