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

Step one is releasing more water from upstream on the Colorado River this 12 months. The second is water will likely be held back in Lake Powell itself, as an alternative of being sent to downstream states.

The US Bureau of Reclamation expects the dual actions will increase 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 keeping with the bureau, although its full capability is around 25 million acre-feet.

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

The agency stated in a statement Tuesday's choice was meant to protect "hydropower generation, the power's key infrastructure, and the water supply for the town of 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 have now never taken this step earlier than, however the potential danger on the horizon demands immediate action," Assistant Secretary of Water and Science, Tanya Trujillo informed reporters. "We need to work collectively to stabilize the reservoir before we face a bigger crisis."

Lake Powell has dropped round 100 ft in the final three years as the West has been besieged by drought. As the water level has fallen, Glen Canyon Dam has lost about 16% of its capacity to generate power.

Bryan Hill, general manager of the public power utility in Page, Arizona, likened the state of affairs 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 choices made for Lake Powell additionally have an effect on its downstream neighbor, Lake Mead, which is the most important reservoir within the nation.

Water cuts for those who depend on Lake Mead started in January, and Tuesday's determination could result in additional restrictions.

Lake Mead's water degree is now low enough to show one of many reservoir's authentic, 1971 water intake valves for the primary time. The valve can no longer draw water, in accordance with the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the agency liable for managing water sources for 2.2 million folks in southern Nevada, together with Las Vegas.

Officers over the weekend made another disturbing discovery brought 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 over the last 15 years," said Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Murder Lieutenant Ray Spencer. "It is doubtless that we are going to find further bodies which have been dumped in Lake Mead" as the water level drops extra.