Lake Powell officers 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 might be held back in Lake Powell itself, instead of being sent to downstream states.

The US Bureau of Reclamation expects the dual actions will enhance Lake Powell by nearly 1 million acre-feet of water. The reservoir contained about 5.8 million acre-feet of water as of Tuesday, in accordance with the bureau, though its full capacity is around 25 million acre-feet.

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

The agency stated in a statement Tuesday's determination was intended to guard "hydropower era, the facility's key infrastructure, and the water provide for the town of Web page, Arizona, and the LeChee Chapter of the Navajo Nation."

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

"We have now never taken this step earlier than, however the potential danger on the horizon demands immediate motion," Assistant Secretary of Water and Science, Tanya Trujillo instructed reporters. "We need to work collectively to stabilize the reservoir earlier than we face a bigger disaster."

Lake Powell has dropped round 100 toes in the last three years because the West has been besieged by drought. Because the water degree has fallen, Glen Canyon Dam has lost about 16% of its capacity to generate energy.

Bryan Hill, basic supervisor of the public energy utility in Page, Arizona, likened the situation 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 provide anybody."

The decisions made for Lake Powell additionally affect its downstream neighbor, Lake Mead, which is the most important reservoir within the nation.

Water cuts for many who depend on Lake Mead started in January, and Tuesday's choice may lead to further restrictions.

Lake Mead's water stage is now low enough to reveal one of many reservoir's unique, 1971 water intake valves for the first time. The valve can no longer draw water, based on the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the company liable for managing water resources for two.2 million individuals in southern Nevada, together with Las Vegas.

Officials over the weekend made another disturbing discovery brought on by Lake Mead's plummeting water stage: a physique in a barrel police say is a probable homicide 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 discover additional bodies which were dumped in Lake Mead" because the water level drops extra.