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

The first step is releasing extra water from upstream on the Colorado River this yr. The second is water will probably 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 increase Lake Powell by practically 1 million acre-feet of water. The reservoir contained about 5.8 million acre-feet of water as of Tuesday, in response to the bureau, though its full capability is around 25 million acre-feet.

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

The company stated in a press release Tuesday's choice was intended to guard "hydropower era, the ability's key infrastructure, and the water supply for the city of 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 never taken this step before, but the potential danger on the horizon calls for immediate motion," Assistant Secretary of Water and Science, Tanya Trujillo advised reporters. "We have to work together to stabilize the reservoir before we face a bigger disaster."

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

Bryan Hill, common manager of the general public power utility in Page, Arizona, likened the situation to judgment day.

"We're knocking on the door of judgment day," Hill beforehand told CNN. "Judgment day being when we haven't any water to offer 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 depend on Lake Mead began in January, and Tuesday's choice may lead to further restrictions.

Lake Mead's water stage is now low enough to show one of the reservoir's unique, 1971 water consumption valves for the primary time. The valve can no longer draw water, in response to the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the agency chargeable for managing water resources for two.2 million folks in southern Nevada, together with Las Vegas.

Officers over the weekend made another disturbing discovery introduced on by Lake Mead's plummeting water degree: a body in a barrel police say is a possible murder victim from the Nineteen Eighties.

"The lake has drained dramatically over the last 15 years," mentioned Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Homicide Lieutenant Ray Spencer. "It is probably that we will find extra bodies which have been dumped in Lake Mead" because the water level drops extra.