Lake Powell Glen Canyon Dam water release delayed as a result of drought

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

Rj Sangosti| Medianews Group | The Denver Post through Getty Photographs

The federal government on Tuesday announced it should delay the discharge of water from one of many Colorado River's major reservoirs, an unprecedented motion that may briefly address declining reservoir levels fueled by the historic Western drought.

The decision will hold more water in Lake Powell, the reservoir positioned on the Glen Canyon Dam in northern Arizona, instead of releasing it downstream to Lake Mead, the river's different primary reservoir.

The actions come as water ranges at both reservoirs reached their lowest levels on report. Lake Powell's water level is currently at an elevation of 3,523 ft. If the extent drops beneath 3,490 feet, the so-called minimum power pool, the Glen Canyon Dam, which provides electricity for about 5.8 million clients within the inland West, will now not be able to generate electricity.

The delay is predicted to guard operations on the dam for next 12 months, officials stated throughout a press briefing on Tuesday, and can preserve almost 500,000 acre-feet of water in Lake Powell. Under a separate plan, officials may also launch about 500,000 acre-feet of water into Lake Powell from Flaming Gorge, a reservoir situated upstream on the Utah-Wyoming border.

Officials stated the actions will assist save water, shield the dam's potential to produce hydropower and provide officials with extra time to figure out how one can operate the dam at decrease water levels.

"We've by no means taken this step before within the Colorado Basin," assistant Inside Department secretary Tanya Trujillo instructed reporters on Tuesday. "However the circumstances we see immediately, and what we see on the horizon, demand that we take prompt motion."

Federal officers final year ordered the first-ever water cuts for the Colorado River Basin, which provides water to more than 40 million people and a few 2.5 million acres of croplands in the West. The cuts have mostly affected farmers in Arizona, who use nearly three-quarters of the accessible water supply 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 motion to deal with declining water ranges at Lake Powell.

Later that month, representatives from the states sent a letter to the Inside agreeing with the proposal and requesting that non permanent reductions in releases from Lake Powell be implemented without triggering further water cuts in any of the states.

The megadrought in the western U.S. has fueled the driest 20 years in the area in a minimum of 1,200 years, with situations prone to continue by 2022 and persist for years. Researchers have estimated that 42% of the drought's severity is attributable to human-caused local weather change.

"Our climate is changing, our actions are accountable for that, and we have to take responsible motion to respond," Trujillo mentioned. "All of us need to work together to guard the resources we have and the declining water supplies within the Colorado River that our communities depend on."