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

The first step is releasing more water from upstream on the Colorado River this 12 months. The second is water shall be held back in Lake Powell itself, as a substitute of being despatched to downstream states.

The US Bureau of Reclamation expects the twin 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, in keeping with the bureau, although its full capability is around 25 million acre-feet.

With out 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 energy for as many as 5.8 million houses and businesses in seven states.

The company said in an announcement Tuesday's choice was supposed to guard "hydropower era, the power's key infrastructure, and the water supply for the town of Web page, Arizona, and the LeChee Chapter of the Navajo Nation."

The emergency actions will purchase the federal authorities 12 months as it considers longer-term measures.

"We've by no means taken this step earlier than, but the potential danger on the horizon demands immediate motion," Assistant Secretary of Water and Science, Tanya Trujillo informed reporters. "We need to work collectively to stabilize the reservoir before we face a bigger disaster."

Lake Powell has dropped around 100 ft in the last three years as the West has been besieged by drought. Because the water stage has fallen, Glen Canyon Dam has misplaced about 16% of its capacity to generate energy.

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

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

The selections made for Lake Powell additionally have an effect on its downstream neighbor, Lake Mead, which is the most important reservoir within the country.

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

Lake Mead's water stage is now low enough to reveal one of the reservoir's authentic, 1971 water consumption valves for the primary time. The valve can now not draw water, in response to the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the agency accountable for managing water resources for two.2 million folks in southern Nevada, together with Las Vegas.

Officials over the weekend made another disturbing discovery introduced on by Lake Mead's plummeting water stage: a body in a barrel police say is a likely homicide sufferer from the Nineteen Eighties.

"The lake has drained dramatically during the last 15 years," said Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Homicide Lieutenant Ray Spencer. "It is probably that we will discover further our bodies which were dumped in Lake Mead" as the water stage drops more.