Lake Powell officers take emergency steps to protect 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 back in Lake Powell itself, as a substitute of being despatched 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, based on 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 could have stopped producing hydropower by January. The dam generates power for as many as 5.8 million properties and businesses in seven states.

The agency stated in an announcement Tuesday's determination was supposed to guard "hydropower technology, the ability's key infrastructure, and the water provide for the 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 never taken this step before, but the potential danger on the horizon demands prompt action," Assistant Secretary of Water and Science, Tanya Trujillo informed reporters. "We need to work collectively to stabilize the reservoir earlier than we face a bigger disaster."

Lake Powell has dropped around 100 feet within the last three years as the West has been besieged by drought. Because the water level has fallen, Glen Canyon Dam has lost about 16% of its capacity to generate power.

Bryan Hill, general manager of the general public power utility in Web page, Arizona, likened the state of affairs to judgment day.

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

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

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

Lake Mead's water degree is now low sufficient to show one of many reservoir's authentic, 1971 water intake valves for the primary time. The valve can now not draw water, in accordance with the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the agency accountable for managing water assets for two.2 million individuals in southern Nevada, together with Las Vegas.

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

"The lake has drained dramatically over the last 15 years," stated Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Murder Lieutenant Ray Spencer. "It's probably that we will find additional bodies that have been dumped in Lake Mead" because the water degree drops extra.