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

The first step is releasing more water from upstream on the Colorado River this yr. The second is water might be held back in Lake Powell itself, as an alternative of being despatched to downstream states.

The US Bureau of Reclamation expects the dual actions will increase Lake Powell by practically 1 million acre-feet of water. The reservoir contained about 5.8 million acre-feet of water as of Tuesday, according to the bureau, though its full capacity is around 25 million acre-feet.

With out the emergency steps, the bureau estimated there was a couple of 25% likelihood the Glen Canyon Dam could 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 mentioned in a press release Tuesday's determination was supposed to guard "hydropower generation, the power's key infrastructure, and the water provide for the city of Page, Arizona, and the LeChee Chapter of the Navajo Nation."

The emergency actions will purchase the federal government 12 months as it considers longer-term measures.

"We have never taken this step before, but the potential danger on the horizon calls for prompt motion," Assistant Secretary of Water and Science, Tanya Trujillo instructed reporters. "We need to work together to stabilize the reservoir before we face a larger disaster."

Lake Powell has dropped around 100 feet in the final three years because the West has been besieged by drought. Because the water stage has fallen, Glen Canyon Dam has lost about 16% of its capability to generate power.

Bryan Hill, basic 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 beforehand told CNN. "Judgment day being when we haven't any water to offer anybody."

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

Water cuts for individuals who depend on Lake Mead began in January, and Tuesday's choice could result in further restrictions.

Lake Mead's water stage is now low enough to show one of many reservoir's original, 1971 water consumption valves for the first time. The valve can now not draw water, according to the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the agency responsible for managing water sources for two.2 million individuals in southern Nevada, together with Las Vegas.

Officers over the weekend made one other disturbing discovery introduced on by Lake Mead's plummeting water level: a body in a barrel police say is a probable murder sufferer from the Nineteen Eighties.

"The lake has drained dramatically over the last 15 years," mentioned Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Homicide Lieutenant Ray Spencer. "It is probably that we'll find further our bodies that have been dumped in Lake Mead" as the water stage drops extra.