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, as a substitute of being despatched to downstream states.

The US Bureau of Reclamation expects the twin 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, in accordance with the bureau, although its full capacity is round 25 million acre-feet.

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

The agency said in an announcement Tuesday's decision was supposed to guard "hydropower generation, 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 government 12 months because it considers longer-term measures.

"We've by no means taken this step before, however the potential danger on the horizon demands immediate action," Assistant Secretary of Water and Science, Tanya Trujillo advised reporters. "We need to work together to stabilize the reservoir earlier than we face a larger crisis."

Lake Powell has dropped round 100 ft within the final three years as the West has been besieged by drought. As the water stage has fallen, Glen Canyon Dam has misplaced about 16% of its capability to generate energy.

Bryan Hill, general manager of the public power utility in Web page, Arizona, likened the scenario to judgment day.

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

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

Water cuts for those who depend on Lake Mead began in January, and Tuesday's resolution may lead to additional restrictions.

Lake Mead's water degree is now low sufficient to reveal one of the reservoir's original, 1971 water intake valves for the first time. The valve can now not draw water, in line with the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the agency liable for managing water assets for two.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 stage: a physique in a barrel police say is a likely murder sufferer from the 1980s.

"The lake has drained dramatically during the last 15 years," said Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Homicide Lieutenant Ray Spencer. "It is seemingly that we are going to discover further our bodies which have been dumped in Lake Mead" as the water level drops extra.