The Bureau of Reclamation says water levels at Lake Powell could drop too low to generate hydropower as soon as next year.
The dire projection is familiar territory in the midst of a two-decade megadrought.
The nation’s second largest reservoir is only about 30% full. If it drops much more, it could go below the hydropower turbines inside Glen Canyon Dam. They generate electricity for about 5 million people across seven Western states.
The reservoir faced the same problem a few years ago. Water managers made emergency releases from other reservoirs to prop up Lake Powell until spring runoff came to the rescue.
Colorado River experts say that strategy won’t work in the long term.
Policymakers are under pressure to come up with a new system for sharing a river that’s shrinking because of climate change, and they need to do it before the current system expires in 2026.
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As communities across the West keep a close eye on water supplies and wildfire risk, a new federal drought forecast highlights where relief may be on the way, and where dry conditions are likely to continue. -
The largest reservoir in the United States has plummeted to its lowest water level since it was created some 90 years ago. Federal data shows Lake Mead fell Friday to a level just below the prior record-low set in July 2022. -
Federal officials said Thursday they will not release cool water this year from one of the Colorado River's major reservoirs, which would have protected a threatened native fish downstream but put more strain on already struggling hydropower production. -
Tonto National Forest will be closing Canyon Lake later next month so the Bureau of Reclamation and SRP can conduct dam safety inspections and maintenance. -
Board members with the Central Arizona Project challenged an extension of the agency's involvement in a cloud seeding program.
