Lake Powell Glen Canyon Dam water launch delayed as a consequence 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 by way of Getty Pictures

The federal government on Tuesday announced it's going to delay the discharge of water from one of the 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 more water in Lake Powell, the reservoir located on the Glen Canyon Dam in northern Arizona, as a substitute of releasing it downstream to Lake Mead, the river's different main reservoir.

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

The delay is predicted to protect operations at the dam for subsequent 12 months, officers stated throughout a press briefing on Tuesday, and will keep almost 500,000 acre-feet of water in Lake Powell. Underneath a separate plan, officers 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 mentioned the actions will help save water, shield the dam's skill to produce hydropower and supply officials with more time to figure out tips on how to function the dam at lower water levels.

"We've never taken this step earlier than in the Colorado Basin," assistant Interior Division secretary Tanya Trujillo instructed reporters on Tuesday. "But the situations we see as we speak, and what we see on the horizon, demand that we take prompt action."

Federal officials last 12 months ordered the first-ever water cuts for the Colorado River Basin, which supplies water to more than 40 million individuals and a few 2.5 million acres of croplands within the West. The cuts have largely affected farmers in Arizona, who use practically three-quarters of the out there 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 considering taking emergency motion to deal with declining water levels at Lake Powell.

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

The megadrought in the western U.S. has fueled the driest 20 years within the area in no less than 1,200 years, with situations prone to proceed through 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 changing, our actions are chargeable for that, and we now have to take accountable motion to respond," Trujillo mentioned. "All of us need to work collectively to protect the assets we've got and the declining water supplies within the Colorado River that our communities depend on."