Lake Powell officials 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 sent 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, in line with the bureau, though its full capacity is round 25 million acre-feet.

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

The agency stated in a statement Tuesday's resolution was intended to protect "hydropower technology, the ability's key infrastructure, and the water provide for the city 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 now never taken this step before, however the potential danger 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 before we face a larger disaster."

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

Bryan Hill, normal supervisor of the general public energy utility in Web page, Arizona, likened the state of affairs 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 anyone."

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

Water cuts for those who rely on Lake Mead began in January, and Tuesday's resolution may lead to additional restrictions.

Lake Mead's water degree is now low enough to show one of many reservoir's original, 1971 water intake valves for the primary time. The valve can not draw water, in response to the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the company accountable for managing water resources for 2.2 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 degree: a physique in a barrel police say is a possible murder sufferer from the Eighties.

"The lake has drained dramatically during the last 15 years," stated Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Homicide Lieutenant Ray Spencer. "It is doubtless that we'll find extra our bodies which have been dumped in Lake Mead" as the water stage drops more.