Lake Powell Glen Canyon Dam water release delayed due to drought

Water ranges are at a historic low at Lake Powell on April 5, 2022 in Web page, Arizona.

Rj Sangosti| Medianews Group | The Denver Publish through Getty Photos

The federal authorities on Tuesday announced it will delay the discharge of water from one of many Colorado River's main reservoirs, an unprecedented action that may briefly handle declining reservoir levels fueled by the historic Western drought.

The choice will keep more water in Lake Powell, the reservoir situated on the Glen Canyon Dam in northern Arizona, as an alternative of releasing it downstream to Lake Mead, the river's other main reservoir.

The actions come as water ranges at both reservoirs reached their lowest levels on file. Lake Powell's water stage is at the moment at an elevation of 3,523 ft. If the extent drops under 3,490 ft, the so-called minimal power pool, the Glen Canyon Dam, which provides electricity for about 5.8 million clients within the inland West, will not have the ability to generate electricity.

The delay is anticipated to guard operations at the dam for next 12 months, officials mentioned throughout a press briefing on Tuesday, and will keep practically 500,000 acre-feet of water in Lake Powell. Underneath a separate plan, officers will also launch about 500,000 acre-feet of water into Lake Powell from Flaming Gorge, a reservoir situated upstream at the Utah-Wyoming border.

Officials stated the actions will assist save water, protect the dam's capacity to supply hydropower and provide officials with extra time to determine how to function the dam at decrease water levels.

"We've never taken this step earlier than in the Colorado Basin," assistant Interior Department secretary Tanya Trujillo advised reporters on Tuesday. "However the situations we see at this time, and what we see on the horizon, demand that we take immediate action."

Federal officials final year ordered the first-ever water cuts for the Colorado River Basin, which supplies water to greater than 40 million people and some 2.5 million acres of croplands within the West. The cuts have largely affected farmers in Arizona, who use almost three-quarters of the obtainable water provide to irrigate their crops.

In April, federal water managers warned the seven states that draw from the Colorado River that the federal government was contemplating taking emergency motion to handle declining water ranges at Lake Powell.

Later that month, representatives from the states despatched a letter to the Inside agreeing with the proposal and requesting that non permanent reductions in releases from Lake Powell be applied with out triggering further water cuts in any of the states.

The megadrought within the western U.S. has fueled the driest 20 years in the area in not less than 1,200 years, with circumstances prone to continue through 2022 and persist for years. Researchers have estimated that 42% of the drought's severity is attributable to human-caused climate change.

"Our local weather is changing, our actions are chargeable for that, and we've to take responsible action to respond," Trujillo said. "All of us must work collectively to guard the resources we've and the declining water provides within the Colorado River that our communities depend on."