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

The first step is releasing more water from upstream on the Colorado River this yr. The second is water will probably 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 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, though its full capacity is round 25 million acre-feet.

With out the emergency steps, the bureau estimated there was about a 25% chance 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 agency said in an announcement Tuesday's decision was intended to protect "hydropower technology, the facility's key infrastructure, and the water provide for town of Page, Arizona, and the LeChee Chapter of the Navajo Nation."

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

"We now have by no means taken this step before, but the potential danger on the horizon calls for prompt motion," Assistant Secretary of Water and Science, Tanya Trujillo informed reporters. "We have to work together to stabilize the reservoir earlier than we face a bigger crisis."

Lake Powell has dropped around 100 toes within the final three years because the West has been besieged by drought. Because the water level has fallen, Glen Canyon Dam has misplaced about 16% of its capacity to generate power.

Bryan Hill, general manager 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 informed CNN. "Judgment day being when we don't have any water to provide anybody."

The selections made for Lake Powell also affect its downstream neighbor, Lake Mead, which is the most important reservoir in the nation.

Water cuts for individuals who rely on Lake Mead began in January, and Tuesday's resolution may lead to further restrictions.

Lake Mead's water level is now low sufficient to reveal one of the reservoir's original, 1971 water intake valves for the primary time. The valve can not draw water, in response to the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the company answerable for managing water resources for 2.2 million people in southern Nevada, including Las Vegas.

Officials over the weekend made one other disturbing discovery brought on by Lake Mead's plummeting water degree: a body in a barrel police say is a likely murder sufferer from the Nineteen Eighties.

"The lake has drained dramatically over the last 15 years," stated Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Homicide Lieutenant Ray Spencer. "It is probably that we'll find further bodies which were dumped in Lake Mead" because the water degree drops more.