Lake Powell Glen Canyon Dam water launch 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 Photos

The federal government on Tuesday announced it can delay the discharge of water from one of the Colorado River's major reservoirs, an unprecedented action that may temporarily tackle declining reservoir ranges fueled by the historic Western drought.

The choice will keep extra 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 main reservoir.

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

The delay is anticipated to protect operations at the dam for subsequent 12 months, officers said throughout a press briefing on Tuesday, and can hold 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 located upstream at the Utah-Wyoming border.

Officials said the actions will help save water, protect the dam's skill to produce hydropower and supply officials with more time to determine the way to function the dam at decrease water ranges.

"We have now by no means taken this step before in the Colorado Basin," assistant Inside Division secretary Tanya Trujillo advised reporters on Tuesday. "But the situations we see at this time, and what we see on the horizon, demand that we take prompt action."

Federal officers final yr ordered the first-ever water cuts for the Colorado River Basin, which provides 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 almost three-quarters of the obtainable water provide 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 sent a letter to the Inside agreeing with the proposal and requesting that short-term reductions in releases from Lake Powell be applied 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 at least 1,200 years, with conditions prone to continue by 2022 and persist for years. Researchers have estimated that 42% of the drought's severity is attributable to human-caused climate change.

"Our local weather is changing, our actions are responsible for that, and we have now to take responsible action to reply," Trujillo stated. "We all must work collectively to protect the assets we've and the declining water provides within the Colorado River that our communities depend on."