Lake Powell officers take emergency steps to preserve 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 an alternative of being sent to downstream states.

The US Bureau of Reclamation expects the twin actions will increase 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 response to the bureau, though its full capacity is around 25 million acre-feet.

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

The agency mentioned in an announcement Tuesday's choice was supposed to protect "hydropower generation, the facility's key infrastructure, and the water supply 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 earlier than, but the potential threat on the horizon calls for prompt action," Assistant Secretary of Water and Science, Tanya Trujillo informed reporters. "We need to work together to stabilize the reservoir earlier than we face a bigger crisis."

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

Bryan Hill, basic manager of the public power utility in Web page, Arizona, likened the state of affairs to judgment day.

"We're knocking on the door of judgment day," Hill beforehand told CNN. "Judgment day being when we don't have any water to offer anybody."

The selections made for Lake Powell also have an effect on its downstream neighbor, Lake Mead, which is the biggest reservoir within the nation.

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

Lake Mead's water level is now low enough to expose one of many reservoir's unique, 1971 water intake valves for the first time. The valve can not draw water, in keeping with the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the company liable for managing water resources for 2.2 million folks 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 possible murder sufferer from the 1980s.

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