We don't know if we can release water to meet downstream requirements. Water management requires planning for the future. Climatologist Jon Meyer with the Utah Climate Center said the number that captures the severity for him is 12 inches. But if the regions dry period repeats itself, he said, youll need fundamental change. His uncle, Stewart Udall, voted to create Lake Powell as an Arizona congressman in 1956 and shepherded construction of the Glen Canyon Dam that holds back the lake while he was interior secretary in the early 1960s. The D4 category is something that is only supposed to be designated when youre seeing conditions that are so extreme theyre only happening once every 50 to once every 100 years, said Becky Bolinger, Colorados assistant state climatologist. Such is the nature of the climate change beast that we have unleashed.. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. It does not store any personal data. How does climate change affect you? 84% Of Upper Basin In Extreme To Exceptional Drought This is the highest percentage of land in the river's Upper Basin since 2002, which stands as the region's driest year on record. Experts say it wont be a silver bullet, but could stave off near-term danger. House Democrat nods to Kellyanne Conway in push to make Hatch Act violations a Hemorrhaging losses, the Feds problems are now the taxpayers, Lukashenko arrives in Beijing as concerns rise around China-Russia relations. The low levels arent just causing hand-wringing among the Wests water officials. Theyre roughly 25% full now, saidBrad Udall, a water and climate scientist at Colorado State University. Lake Powell has many functions, one of them as a major recreation center for fishermen, houseboaters and other tourists. The Lower Basin states have already agreed on two short-term programs to reduce their take of water from Mead. "This is apparently a decent (water) year, but still, if it turns dry again there are some pretty big reductions on tap and every state could be affected," saidHasencamp. Frankel criticizes water managers for their inaction in the face of those trends. But a new study warns that the lake could virtually dry up in as few as six years if the region gets a repeat of the dry spell it experienced from 2000 to 2005. The lake that once covered 400 square miles has shrunk 90 percent, leaving behind oxygen-deprived, highly salinized water with a rotten-egg odor that permeates the surrounding area. In addition to the power the lake generates directly, it is a major source of grid resilience when full, serving as a quick backup source in cases where solar or wind power cant meet demand. The repercussions of a draining water supply are immense -- farms are drying up, a once-thriving marina now sits more than a mile from lake water and Arizona's Department of Water Resources is . And it's not a backroom voodoo mystery that only fortune tellers can forecast. Mountain snowpack is generally below average for this time of year, so that boost may not be as big as it has been in years past. The JSESSIONID cookie is used by New Relic to store a session identifier so that New Relic can monitor session counts for an application. Its lagging in both the Upper and Lower basins, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration projects much of the watershed totilt toward hotter and drier weatherfor the rest of the winter. Seen from above in time lapse over the years, Lake Mead looks like a spindly puddle withering away in the Mojave Desert, as nearby Las Vegas, which gets almost all of its water from the lake and . The Colorado River systems reservoirs combined arecurrently less than half full. The water level at Lake Mead is sitting at just 39%, while Lake Powell is at 36%. At 3,490 feet, Glen Canyon Dam reaches "minimum power pool." The test_cookie is set by doubleclick.net and is used to determine if the user's browser supports cookies. Because of that, the spring and early summer will bring a temporary boost to water levels while snow runs into rivers and eventually flows into Lake Powell. This is very unpredictable and these are going to be difficult conversations in the coming years.. It took 16 years for it to fill. It doesnt matter if we get an incredible snowpack, our soils are so depleted right now that thats not going to really translate to water coming down through the river systems, Meyer said. Ultimately, experts said the future of the lake must be addressed in a way that creates the certainty it was intended to provide. The water in Lake Mead on Wednesday reached a new low 1070.6 feet above sea level since it was filled in the 1930's, according to data provided by the US Bureau of Reclamation. And it takes several years of good weather in order to bring the system out of drought. Keep reading with a digital access subscription. Lake Powell generates power for about 5.8 million households and businesses in Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. Officials have already taken some stopgap measures to avert the lake getting down to the pivotal 3,490-foot mark. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. Lake Mead's water level on Wednesday was measured at 1,044.03 feet, its lowest elevation since the lake was filled in the 1930s. Lake Powell, the country's second-largest reservoir and a key source of water and power for much of the West, is more parched than ever.Earlier this month, the lake dropped below 25% capacity . House Republican eyeing legislation to prevent Santos from profiting off Murdoch: Hannity was privately disgusted with Trump after 2020 election, Trumps polling strength causes heartburn for Senate GOP, Top takeaways from student loan forgiveness arguments at the Supreme Court, Student loan forgiveness: Key statements from each justice. This is very unpredictable and these are going to be difficult conversations in the coming years., THE HILL 1625 K STREET, NW SUITE 900 WASHINGTON DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 TEL | 202-628-8503 FAX. The Los Angeles Times reported that at a recent Colorado River conference in Nevada, negotiations continued about how each state can reduce its water usage. The big question is how water managers will divvy up a shrinking supply to feed a growing region. Used by Yahoo to provide ads, content or analytics. LinkedIn sets this cookie for LinkedIn Ads ID syncing. 1. AWSALB is an application load balancer cookie set by Amazon Web Services to map the session to the target. Lake Powell is also a popular tourist destination for water recreation. But its fundamental purpose under the federal law that created it is to serve as a water insurance policy for the Colorado River Basin. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community. The second would step up cloud-seeding programs to try to boost snowfall in the region. YouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video. In the year 2000, the two reservoirs were 95% full. Glen Canyon Dam can release water below minimum power pool through bypass jets until an elevation of 3,370 feet, which is then the top of dead pool and no further water can be released. The wells that now supply Tucson are at 400 - 500 feet under the surface. Because of that, its expected that the Department of the Interior'sBureau of Reclamation, which oversees water management, will mandate onesometime next year. Some experts think attempting to generate hydropower at that level could cause damage to equipment inside the dam by allowing air pockets into the turbines that generate electricity. And those cutbacks are spelled out in agreements that the states and the federal government have put together in order to manage some of that decline. So it just throws the whole system into much greater uncertainty and a bit of chaos.. Without wet hydrology to replenish the reservoirs, the basin finds itself in an all but certain shortage condition for the first time." . If the outlet tubes cant meet the reservoirs needs, she said, the flow of water in the Grand Canyon itself could be reduced to a trickle. At the same time,demand has risen due to increased population growth in the West. Google DoubleClick IDE cookies are used to store information about how the user uses the website to present them with relevant ads and according to the user profile. Colorado River tribes pose statewide leasing idea, Risks to Lake Mead, Colorado River intensifying greatly, federal officials say, Arizona basketball | Tommy Lloyd on the wild, fun nature of college hoops | Feb. 28, 2023, Millions at Risk of Slipping Into Poverty as COVID-Era SNAP Benefits Set to End, More than 300 words have been added to the English dictionary. The latest projections from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation show there's a. Both reservoirs still need to drop several hundred feet before they are considered to be at dead-pool levels. In addition, Mankin said, interventions like the Flaming Gorge release treat the western U.S.s 20-year drought as a localized phenomenon rather than a regional one. We are likely witnessing the end of Lake Powell as we knew it in the 80s and 90s, Balken said. The Lower Basin fares worse, with 93% of the land area in those categories. VigLink sets this cookie to track the user behaviour and also limit the ads displayed, in order to ensure relevant advertising. . Lakes in the Colorado River Basin are drying up and losing water, with severe water cuts now expected across four states - the start of a water crisis in the West. Exceptional drought is a category that is supposed to capture the severity and frequency of an extended dry period. Its important to differentiate between Lake Powell running dry versus Lake Powell dropping below elevation 3,490 [feet], Taylor Hawes, Colorado River program director at the Nature Conservancy, told The Hill in an interview. At that point, Upper Basin states would start delivering water from their other reservoirs to Powell. The four Upper Basin states Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming are devising a three-legged stool plan to protect Lake Powell. Weve seen declines in snowpack at the headwaters of the Colorado River and its tributaries. You would have to go back to April of 1937, also twoyears into its initial filling, to find levels that low. The Hoover Dam is therefore also at risk of declining hydroelectric power generation as Lake Mead approaches deadpool levels. We don't know what happens below 3,490, said Taylor Hawes, Colorado River program director at the Nature Conservancy. So the upper watershed, you have the headwater states. The Colorado River basin has experienced three D4 droughts in the last 20 years, including the current one. And how can certain policy agreements, policy negotiations, be structured in order to allow tribal nations to come to the table and negotiate for future policies? LUKE RUNYON: Well, I dont have a crystal ball. The second largest reservoir in the U.S. by total capacity after Lake Mead, Lake Powell spans the Utah/Arizona border, and is an artificial lake created from damming the Colorado River. The southwestern states have been gripped by drought for over 22 years, experts say. If the reservoir dips below 895 feet a possibility still years. The Department of the Interior had asked the seven states of the Colorado River Compact to come up with a plan to cut between 2 and 4 million acre-feet of water by January. Twitter sets this cookie to integrate and share features for social media and also store information about how the user uses the website, for tracking and targeting. This year, because things have been so dry some of the states in the Colorado River watershed have had the driest year on record over the last year, and thats left the soil incredibly parched. Thank you for helping us continue making science fun for everyone. At the time of publication, Lake Powell was sitting at only 3,529 feet only four feet above this important threshold. Monsoon rains didnt arrive. And what does that mean for the users on the river? Powell is not drying out in a vacuum.. Hes also been a long-time guest host on Science Friday. And this is just the beginning of what could happen if the lake keeps drying up. Lake Powell has been called Jewel of the Colorado by the federal agency that built it, the Bureau of Reclamation. And theres already a supply-demand imbalance on the Colorado River, and the supply is shrinking faster than officials are able to shrink the demands that we have on the river. Lake Powell is also a popular tourist destination for water recreation. But after more than two decades of drought it is now less than 1,050 feet the lowest since the lake was filled, and falling about a foot a week. Hes also been a long-time guest host on Science Friday. This cookie is installed by Google Universal Analytics to restrain request rate and thus limit the collection of data on high traffic sites. If water levels at Lake Powell drop just another 32 feet, those generators will stop spinning. LUKE RUNYON: Yeah, and this is a question that has been of intense interest to climate scientists. Its depth level currently stands at around 3,530 feet. If decision makers do nothing and take no action and just let the reservoir crash without structurally modifying the dam, there will be a lot of really big problems.. After seeing 30 inches of rain in one day in Louisiana, 20 inches in Houston, unprecedented drought in California over the last 5 years, not to mention the flow reductions in Colorado River, Udall said, I think we need to seriously consider water-related climatic events that have no historical precedent.. JOHN DANKOSKY: This is Science Friday. Contact reporter Tony Davis at tdavis@tucson.com or 806-7746. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. "Its hard to overstate how important the Colorado River is to the entire American southwest.. Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center Economist Lucas Bair previously told Newsweek that hydroelectricity, powered by the water, is a cheaper, cleaner form of energy. The dry years are what force the really important steps forward in the policy community.. The cookie is used to store and identify a users' unique session ID for the purpose of managing user session on the website. Forecasts are calling for 4.1 million acre-feet of water to flow into Lake Powell from April to July this year, but water managers are obligated to release more than 7 million acre-feet out of the lake. Lake Powell has been called "Jewel of the Colorado" by the federal agency that built it, the Bureau of Reclamation. The studys computer models didnt factor in rising temperatures expected in this region due to climate change. Joining me to shed a little bit more light on this is Luke Runyon. If that does come to pass, Tyrell said he is fairly confident we can deal with worst case scenario if it ever happens.. He spent two years at Aspen Public Radio, mainly reporting on the resort economy, the environment and the COVID-19 pandemic. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. Conditions have been deteriorating across the river basin since the summer of 2020. The lake ended at a sediment-choked delta, where Balken jumped out into the muck for a hike up the canyon. water level is too low to flow downstream, Everyone Practices Cancel Culture | Opinion, Deplatforming Free Speech is Dangerous | Opinion. Those are Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, and Utah. Falling water levels at Lake Mead and Lake Powell have been concerning for several years. 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