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

Step one is releasing more water from upstream on the Colorado River this year. The second is water might be held again 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 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, although its full capability is around 25 million acre-feet.

With out the emergency steps, the bureau estimated there was about a 25% chance the Glen Canyon Dam could have stopped producing hydropower by January. The dam generates power for as many as 5.8 million houses and companies in seven states.

The agency said in a press release Tuesday's choice was intended to protect "hydropower technology, the facility'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 purchase the federal government 12 months as it considers longer-term measures.

"Now we have by no means taken this step before, however the potential threat on the horizon demands prompt action," Assistant Secretary of Water and Science, Tanya Trujillo instructed reporters. "We need to work collectively to stabilize the reservoir earlier than we face a larger disaster."

Lake Powell has dropped around 100 ft in the final three years because the West has been besieged by drought. Because the water degree has fallen, Glen Canyon Dam has misplaced about 16% of its capability to generate power.

Bryan Hill, general manager 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 provide anybody."

The choices made for Lake Powell also have an effect on its downstream neighbor, Lake Mead, which is the most important reservoir within the nation.

Water cuts for many who rely on Lake Mead began in January, and Tuesday's decision might result in additional restrictions.

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

Officials over the weekend made one other disturbing discovery introduced on by Lake Mead's plummeting water stage: a physique in a barrel police say is a probable murder 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'll discover extra our bodies which have been dumped in Lake Mead" as the water level drops more.