Lake Powell Glen Canyon Dam water launch delayed because of drought

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

Rj Sangosti| Medianews Group | The Denver Submit by way of Getty Images

The federal government on Tuesday introduced it should delay the release of water from one of many Colorado River's main reservoirs, an unprecedented action that will temporarily tackle declining reservoir levels fueled by the historic Western drought.

The decision will keep extra water in Lake Powell, the reservoir positioned at the Glen Canyon Dam in northern Arizona, instead of releasing it downstream to Lake Mead, the river's other major reservoir.

The actions come as water levels at each reservoirs reached their lowest ranges on document. Lake Powell's water stage is at the moment at an elevation of three,523 toes. If the extent drops under 3,490 toes, the so-called minimal power pool, the Glen Canyon Dam, which provides electricity for about 5.8 million prospects in the inland West, will not be capable of generate electricity.

The delay is anticipated to protect operations on the dam for next 12 months, officials said during a press briefing on Tuesday, and will preserve practically 500,000 acre-feet of water in Lake Powell. Underneath a separate plan, officials will even release about 500,000 acre-feet of water into Lake Powell from Flaming Gorge, a reservoir situated upstream at the Utah-Wyoming border.

Officers said the actions will help save water, protect the dam's means to supply hydropower and supply officials with extra time to determine function the dam at lower water levels.

"We have never taken this step before within the Colorado Basin," assistant Inside Division secretary Tanya Trujillo told reporters on Tuesday. "However the circumstances we see right now, and what we see on the horizon, demand that we take prompt action."

Federal officers final 12 months ordered the first-ever water cuts for the Colorado River Basin, which supplies water to greater than 40 million individuals and a few 2.5 million acres of croplands within the West. The cuts have principally affected farmers in Arizona, who use practically three-quarters of the available water supply 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 action to handle declining water ranges at Lake Powell.

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

The megadrought in the western U.S. has fueled the driest two decades within the region in a minimum of 1,200 years, with situations more likely to continue by way of 2022 and persist for years. Researchers have estimated that 42% of the drought's severity is attributable to human-caused climate change.

"Our climate is altering, our actions are answerable for that, and we have to take accountable motion to reply," Trujillo said. "We all must work collectively to guard the resources we've and the declining water supplies in the Colorado River that our communities depend on."