Lake Powell officers 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 probably be held again in Lake Powell itself, as an alternative of being despatched to downstream states.

The US Bureau of Reclamation expects the dual actions will increase Lake Powell by almost 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 capability is around 25 million acre-feet.

Without the emergency steps, the bureau estimated there was a few 25% chance 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 agency mentioned in an announcement Tuesday's decision was meant to protect "hydropower technology, the facility's key infrastructure, and the water provide for the city of Page, Arizona, and the LeChee Chapter of the Navajo Nation."

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

"Now we have by no means taken this step before, but the potential risk on the horizon demands prompt action," Assistant Secretary of Water and Science, Tanya Trujillo instructed reporters. "We have to work together to stabilize the reservoir earlier than we face a bigger crisis."

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

Bryan Hill, general manager of the public power utility in Page, Arizona, likened the state of affairs to judgment day.

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

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

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 many reservoir's authentic, 1971 water consumption valves for the first time. The valve can not draw water, in response to the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the agency responsible for managing water sources for two.2 million people in southern Nevada, together with 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 sufferer from the Eighties.

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