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

Step one is releasing more water from upstream on the Colorado River this yr. The second is water will likely 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 boost 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, although its full capability is round 25 million acre-feet.

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

The company stated in a press release Tuesday's choice was intended to protect "hydropower era, the power's key infrastructure, and the water provide for the town of Web page, Arizona, and the LeChee Chapter of the Navajo Nation."

The emergency actions will buy the federal authorities 12 months because it considers longer-term measures.

"Now we have by no means taken this step earlier than, however the potential danger on the horizon calls for immediate motion," Assistant Secretary of Water and Science, Tanya Trujillo instructed reporters. "We have to work together to stabilize the reservoir earlier than we face a larger crisis."

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

Bryan Hill, common supervisor 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 advised CNN. "Judgment day being when we haven't any water to give anybody."

The selections made for Lake Powell additionally have an effect on its downstream neighbor, Lake Mead, which is the biggest reservoir in the country.

Water cuts for those who depend on Lake Mead began in January, and Tuesday's determination could lead to further restrictions.

Lake Mead's water level is now low enough to expose one of many reservoir's original, 1971 water consumption valves for the first time. The valve can not draw water, in keeping with the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the company answerable for managing water assets for 2.2 million people in southern Nevada, together with Las Vegas.

Officers over the weekend made one other disturbing discovery brought on by Lake Mead's plummeting water degree: a body in a barrel police say is a likely murder 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's seemingly that we'll find extra our bodies which have been dumped in Lake Mead" because the water stage drops extra.