After years of severe drought combined with climate change, the water level in Lake Powell, the second largest reservoir on the Colorado River, has dropped to just 24% of capacity. It is continuing to decline to levels not seen since the reservoir was first filled in the 1960s.
In an effort to improve the shrinking reservoir, the federal government announced that it will hold back a large quantity of water this year to reduce risks of the lake falling below a point at which Glen Canyon Dam would no longer generate electricity.
"Today's decision reflects the truly unexpected challenges facing the Colorado River Basin and will provide operational certainty for communities and businesses that rely on the Colorado River," Tanya Trujillo, the federal Interior Department's assistant secretary for water and science, said in a statement announcing the measures.
It is the first time the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation has called its authority to change its operations in this way at Glen Canyon Dam on the Arizona-Utah border. The agency said the plan is intended to protect infrastructure at the dam and its ability to generate hydropower. It will ensure that water supplies continue to be available for the nearby city of Page, Arizona, and the Navajo Nation.
The plan is supposed to reduce the risks of Lake Powell falling to extremely low levels. The measures will include releasing about 500,000 acre-feet of water from Flaming Gorge Reservoir, which is located upstream, and leaving an additional 480,000 acre-feet in Lake Powell by reducing the volume of water released from Glen Canyon Dam.
"What's needed now, urgently, is for federal and state water managers to work in partnership with other related parties, to take the steps necessary to build confidence in the long-lasting management of the Colorado River," Pitt said. "This will require intensive and dedicated resources to develop and implement plans that put water demands into balance with supplies."
