Lake Powell officers take emergency steps to protect hydropower from Glen Canyon Dam

The first step is releasing more water from upstream on the Colorado River this 12 months. The second is water can be held back in Lake Powell itself, as an alternative of being sent to downstream states.

The US Bureau of Reclamation expects the dual actions will enhance Lake Powell by nearly 1 million acre-feet of water. The reservoir contained about 5.8 million acre-feet of water as of Tuesday, based on the bureau, although its full capability is around 25 million acre-feet.

Without the emergency steps, the bureau estimated there was about a 25% likelihood the Glen Canyon Dam may have stopped producing hydropower by January. The dam generates energy for as many as 5.8 million properties and companies in seven states.

The company stated in an announcement Tuesday's choice was intended to protect "hydropower generation, the facility's key infrastructure, and the water provide for the city of Web page, Arizona, and the LeChee Chapter of the Navajo Nation."

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

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

Lake Powell has dropped around 100 feet within the final 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, common supervisor of the general public energy utility in Web 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 have no water to provide anyone."

The decisions made for Lake Powell also affect its downstream neighbor, Lake Mead, which is the largest reservoir in the country.

Water cuts for many who depend on Lake Mead started in January, and Tuesday's decision could lead to additional restrictions.

Lake Mead's water degree is now low enough to expose one of the reservoir's authentic, 1971 water consumption valves for the first time. The valve can not draw water, in accordance with the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the agency liable for managing water sources for 2.2 million people in southern Nevada, together with Las Vegas.

Officials over the weekend made one other disturbing discovery introduced on by Lake Mead's plummeting water stage: a physique in a barrel police say is a possible murder victim from the Nineteen Eighties.

"The lake has drained dramatically during the last 15 years," mentioned Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Homicide Lieutenant Ray Spencer. "It is seemingly that we'll find further bodies which have been dumped in Lake Mead" as the water stage drops more.