Lake Powell Glen Canyon Dam water launch delayed attributable to drought

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

Rj Sangosti| Medianews Group | The Denver Publish via Getty Pictures

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

The decision will hold extra water in Lake Powell, the reservoir located at the Glen Canyon Dam in northern Arizona, as a substitute of releasing it downstream to Lake Mead, the river's other primary reservoir.

The actions come as water ranges at each reservoirs reached their lowest levels on document. Lake Powell's water level is currently at an elevation of three,523 ft. If the extent drops beneath 3,490 feet, the so-called minimal energy pool, the Glen Canyon Dam, which supplies electrical energy for about 5.8 million clients in the inland West, will no longer be able to generate electrical energy.

The delay is anticipated to guard operations at the dam for next 12 months, officers said during a press briefing on Tuesday, and will keep almost 500,000 acre-feet of water in Lake Powell. Under a separate plan, officials may also release about 500,000 acre-feet of water into Lake Powell from Flaming Gorge, a reservoir located upstream on the Utah-Wyoming border.

Officers mentioned the actions will assist save water, shield the dam's ability to provide hydropower and supply officials with more time to determine function the dam at lower water ranges.

"We've by no means taken this step earlier than within the Colorado Basin," assistant Interior Division secretary Tanya Trujillo told reporters on Tuesday. "But the circumstances we see immediately, and what we see on the horizon, demand that we take immediate action."

Federal officials last year 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 in 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 deal with declining water ranges 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 implemented with out triggering further water cuts in any of the states.

The megadrought within the western U.S. has fueled the driest two decades in the area in at least 1,200 years, with conditions likely to proceed by 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 liable for that, and we have now to take responsible motion to reply," Trujillo said. "All of us need to work collectively to protect the sources we have now and the declining water supplies within the Colorado River that our communities rely on."