Lake Powell officials take emergency steps to preserve hydropower from Glen Canyon Dam

Step one 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 a substitute of being sent to downstream states.

The US Bureau of Reclamation expects the twin actions will increase Lake Powell by almost 1 million acre-feet of water. The reservoir contained about 5.8 million acre-feet of water as of Tuesday, based on the bureau, though its full capacity is around 25 million acre-feet.

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

The company mentioned in a statement Tuesday's decision was supposed to guard "hydropower technology, the power's key infrastructure, and the water supply for the town of 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 now have never taken this step before, but the potential risk on the horizon calls for prompt motion," Assistant Secretary of Water and Science, Tanya Trujillo told reporters. "We need to work together to stabilize the reservoir earlier than we face a larger crisis."

Lake Powell has dropped around 100 ft 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 capacity to generate power.

Bryan Hill, basic supervisor of the public power utility in Page, Arizona, likened the state of affairs 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 provide anybody."

The selections made for Lake Powell also have an effect on its downstream neighbor, Lake Mead, which is the largest reservoir in the country.

Water cuts for those who rely on Lake Mead began in January, and Tuesday's choice might result in further restrictions.

Lake Mead's water level is now low enough to reveal one of the reservoir's original, 1971 water intake valves for the primary time. The valve can not draw water, in accordance with the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the company liable for managing water resources for 2.2 million individuals in southern Nevada, including Las Vegas.

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

"The lake has drained dramatically over the past 15 years," mentioned Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Murder Lieutenant Ray Spencer. "It's likely that we are going to find additional bodies that have been dumped in Lake Mead" as the water degree drops extra.