Lake Powell Glen Canyon Dam water release delayed resulting from drought

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

Rj Sangosti| Medianews Group | The Denver Submit via Getty Photos

The federal government on Tuesday announced it will delay the release of water from one of many Colorado River's major reservoirs, an unprecedented action that will temporarily deal with declining reservoir ranges fueled by the historic Western drought.

The decision will maintain more water in Lake Powell, the reservoir situated at the Glen Canyon Dam in northern Arizona, as a substitute of releasing it downstream to Lake Mead, the river's other major reservoir.

The actions come as water levels at both reservoirs reached their lowest ranges on record. Lake Powell's water stage is presently at an elevation of three,523 feet. If the extent drops below 3,490 toes, the so-called minimum energy pool, the Glen Canyon Dam, which provides electrical energy for about 5.8 million prospects within the inland West, will now not be capable of generate electricity.

The delay is predicted to protect operations at the dam for subsequent 12 months, officials stated throughout a press briefing on Tuesday, and will hold practically 500,000 acre-feet of water in Lake Powell. Underneath a separate plan, officials can even launch about 500,000 acre-feet of water into Lake Powell from Flaming Gorge, a reservoir located upstream on the Utah-Wyoming border.

Officers stated the actions will help save water, protect the dam's potential to supply hydropower and supply officers with extra time to determine how one can operate the dam at lower water ranges.

"We have now never taken this step before in the Colorado Basin," assistant Interior Department secretary Tanya Trujillo advised reporters on Tuesday. "However the circumstances we see at present, and what we see on the horizon, demand that we take immediate action."

Federal officers last 12 months ordered the first-ever water cuts for the Colorado River Basin, which supplies water to more than 40 million people and a few 2.5 million acres of croplands in the West. The cuts have largely affected farmers in Arizona, who use practically three-quarters of the accessible water provide to irrigate their crops.

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

Later that month, representatives from the states despatched a letter to the Interior agreeing with the proposal and requesting that momentary reductions in releases from Lake Powell be carried out with out triggering additional water cuts in any of the states.

The megadrought within the western U.S. has fueled the driest 20 years in the region in not less than 1,200 years, with situations likely to proceed by 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 altering, our actions are liable for that, and now we have to take responsible motion to respond," Trujillo stated. "All of us must work together to guard the assets now we have and the declining water provides within the Colorado River that our communities rely on."