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

Step one is releasing extra water from upstream on the Colorado River this year. The second is water will probably 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 line with the bureau, though its full capability is around 25 million acre-feet.

Without the emergency steps, the bureau estimated there was about a 25% likelihood the Glen Canyon Dam might have stopped producing hydropower by January. The dam generates energy for as many as 5.8 million homes and businesses in seven states.

The company stated in a press release Tuesday's resolution was supposed to guard "hydropower technology, the power's key infrastructure, and the water supply for the city of Web page, Arizona, and the LeChee Chapter of the Navajo Nation."

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

"We've got never taken this step earlier than, but the potential risk on the horizon demands prompt action," Assistant Secretary of Water and Science, Tanya Trujillo informed reporters. "We need to work together to stabilize the reservoir before we face a bigger crisis."

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

Bryan Hill, basic supervisor of the public energy utility in Web page, Arizona, likened the scenario to judgment day.

"We're knocking on the door of judgment day," Hill previously instructed CNN. "Judgment day being when we have no water to give anybody."

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

Water cuts for those who rely on Lake Mead began in January, and Tuesday's choice might lead to additional restrictions.

Lake Mead's water degree is now low enough to show one of many reservoir's authentic, 1971 water consumption valves for the first time. The valve can no longer draw water, in line with the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the company responsible for managing water resources for two.2 million folks in southern Nevada, together with Las Vegas.

Officials over the weekend made another disturbing discovery introduced on by Lake Mead's plummeting water stage: a physique in a barrel police say is a possible murder victim from the 1980s.

"The lake has drained dramatically during the last 15 years," said Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Homicide Lieutenant Ray Spencer. "It's probably that we are going to discover extra our bodies that have been dumped in Lake Mead" because the water stage drops extra.