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

The first step is releasing extra water from upstream on the Colorado River this yr. The second is water will be held back 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 almost 1 million acre-feet of water. The reservoir contained about 5.8 million acre-feet of water as of Tuesday, based on the bureau, although its full capacity is round 25 million acre-feet.

With out the emergency steps, the bureau estimated there was about a 25% probability the Glen Canyon Dam might have stopped producing hydropower by January. The dam generates power for as many as 5.8 million houses and companies in seven states.

The company stated in a press release Tuesday's decision was supposed to protect "hydropower era, the facility's key infrastructure, and the water supply for the city of Page, Arizona, and the LeChee Chapter of the Navajo Nation."

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

"We now have by no means taken this step before, however the potential danger on the horizon calls for immediate action," Assistant Secretary of Water and Science, Tanya Trujillo advised reporters. "We have to work collectively to stabilize the reservoir earlier than we face a larger disaster."

Lake Powell has dropped around 100 ft in the last three years as the West has been besieged by drought. As the water degree has fallen, Glen Canyon Dam has lost about 16% of its capability to generate power.

Bryan Hill, normal manager of the public power utility in Page, Arizona, likened the scenario to judgment day.

"We're knocking on the door of judgment day," Hill beforehand advised CNN. "Judgment day being when we haven't any water to present anybody."

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

Water cuts for individuals who rely on Lake Mead started in January, and Tuesday's determination could result in additional restrictions.

Lake Mead's water level is now low enough to expose one of many reservoir's unique, 1971 water intake valves for the primary time. The valve can no longer draw water, in accordance with the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the company answerable for managing water sources for two.2 million people in southern Nevada, including Las Vegas.

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

"The lake has drained dramatically over the past 15 years," stated Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Murder Lieutenant Ray Spencer. "It is likely that we will discover further bodies which were dumped in Lake Mead" because the water degree drops more.