Lake Powell officials take emergency steps to preserve hydropower from Glen Canyon Dam

Step one is releasing more water from upstream on the Colorado River this 12 months. The second is water might be held again in Lake Powell itself, as a substitute of being sent to downstream states.

The US Bureau of Reclamation expects the twin actions will boost Lake Powell by nearly 1 million acre-feet of water. The reservoir contained about 5.8 million acre-feet of water as of Tuesday, according to the bureau, although its full capability is round 25 million acre-feet.

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

The agency said in an announcement Tuesday's resolution was intended to protect "hydropower era, the power's key infrastructure, and the water provide for the town of Page, Arizona, and the LeChee Chapter of the Navajo Nation."

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

"We have now never taken this step earlier than, but the potential danger on the horizon demands prompt motion," Assistant Secretary of Water and Science, Tanya Trujillo instructed reporters. "We need to work together to stabilize the reservoir before we face a bigger disaster."

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

Bryan Hill, common supervisor of the public energy utility in Web page, Arizona, likened the state of affairs to judgment day.

"We're knocking on the door of judgment day," Hill beforehand instructed CNN. "Judgment day being when we have no water to give anyone."

The selections made for Lake Powell additionally have an effect on its downstream neighbor, Lake Mead, which is the largest reservoir in the country.

Water cuts for those who rely on Lake Mead started in January, and Tuesday's determination might result in further restrictions.

Lake Mead's water level is now low sufficient to reveal one of the reservoir's authentic, 1971 water consumption valves for the primary time. The valve can now not draw water, based on the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the agency responsible for managing water sources for two.2 million individuals in southern Nevada, together with Las Vegas.

Officers 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 homicide sufferer from the 1980s.

"The lake has drained dramatically over the last 15 years," stated Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Homicide Lieutenant Ray Spencer. "It is doubtless that we will find extra bodies that have been dumped in Lake Mead" because the water level drops extra.