The plan can be found at the following website: https://www.usbr.gov/dcp/droa.html. Significant amounts of snowfall over the winter of 20102011 meant more water for Lake Powell, and this effect lasted into the spring of 2012. The picture was much different 59 years ago, when the giant storage reservoir on the Colorado River was filling, its electricity helping power the West and the revenue from its power sales helping fund endangered fish protection programs across the Colorado River Basin. As a news piece, this article cites verifiable, third-party sources which have all been thoroughly fact-checked and deemed credible by the Newsroom in accordance with the Civil Constitution. Lake Powell has several launch ramps along its 186-mile length. Get the most up to date information on Lake Powell's water levels and the status of launch ramps from the Bureau of Reclamation, National Park Service, and more with the links and pages below. Even Less water forecast to flow into Lake Powell this year, report says May NOAA runoff report predicts even less water will flow into Lake Powell this year than previously forecasted. Back then, Hannegan said, We made an assumption that our WAPA (Western Area Power Administration) allocation would be firm, reliable and always there. In March 2022, it fell below a critical level of 3,525 feet above sea levelthe lake's target elevation. A 59% flow into Powell translates to about 3.8 million acre-feet. Click for Details, Current Snowpack Conditions for Upper Colorado Basin. Combined with water withdrawals that many believe are not sustainable, the drought has caused a dramatic drop in Lake Powells water level. In January, following the wet December Moser noted, the NOAA forecast called for 98% of the 30-year average to reach Powell. Click for Details, Current Snowpack Conditions for Upper Colorado Basin. System emergencies occur fairly infrequently and typically require small responses from Glen Canyon Dam. Under a Drought Contingency Plan adopted in 2019, approximately 500 thousand acre-feet (kaf) of water will come from Flaming Gorge Reservoir, located approximately 455 river miles upstream of Lake Powell. The lake level began to rebound; only the 2008 image appeared to deviate from the trend toward rising water levels. monthly forecasts become more accurate. But a long-term drying trend began in the year 2000. On Tuesday, the lake fell below 3,525 feet above sea level, a key target elevation that water managers have been trying to keep Powell above because it provides a buffer from the minimum level at which Glen Canyon Dam can generate power. Lund said that throughout the reservoir's history, it has refilled to its original levels just once. But the declining water already has drained some of the fun, he said. Based on the current forecast of 10.44 maf unregulated inflow for water year 2023, the February 24-Month Study projects Lake Powell elevation will end water year 2023 near 3555.45 feet with approximately 7.47 maf in storage (32 percent of capacity). An initiative of the Center for Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado Boulder. KNAUs Melissa Sevigny reports. Since the beginning of water year 2000, total Colorado Basin storage has experienced year to year increases and decreases in response to wet and dry hydrology, ranging from a high of 94 percent of capacity at the beginning of 2000 to the now current level of 33 percent of capacity at the beginning of water year 2023. So, it takes awhile to fill and it takes awhile to empty.". Much of that water. As of September 20, 2021, the water elevation at Glen Canyon Dam was 3,546.93 feet, more than 153 feet below "full pool" (elevation 3,700 feet). The Glen Canyon Dam annual release has initially been set to 7.00 maf, and in April 2023 Reclamation will evaluate hydrologic conditions to determine if balancing releases may be appropriate under the conditions established in the 2007 Interim Guidelines; Balancing releases will be limited (with a minimum of 7.00 maf) to protect Lake Powell from declining below elevation 3,525 feet at the end of December 2023; Balancing releases will take into account operational neutrality of the 0.480 maf that was retained in Lake Powell under the. The unregulated inflow volume to Lake Powell during January was 361 thousand acre-feet (kaf) (107 percent of average). Projections at Lake Mead show there is a chance as high as 66% that water levels will decline to 1,025 feet by 2025, triggering a Tier 3 Shortage. Reclamation will also ensure all appropriate consultation with Basin Tribes, the Republic of Mexico, other federal agencies, water users and non-governmental organizations with respect to implementation of these monthly and annual operations. In the early 21st century, this modern marvel of engineering faced an ancient enemy: prolonged drought in the American Southwest. google_color_border = "FFFFFF"; Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Wind affected on the west and south facing aspects of the Gore Range seen on, April 7, 2022, near Vail. Today is day 151 of 365 for the Water Year 2023. Few expected to ever see this drop in hydropower production, let alone consider what to do if Glen Canyon were to cease electricity production entirely. The lake held just 30 percent of its capacity. Shortages have been implemented by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in areas like Arizona as water levels in the reservoir have consistently dropped for the past 10 years. water-data.com LakePowell Water Database . That reference period is updated once a decade; it now begins in the 1990s. WEco is funded by multiple donors. google_ad_width = 160; Printable Version Gas Prices on Lake Detailed Map of Powell 15 Day Weather Forecast Last July, to protect the 3,525 buffer zone, Reclamation ordered emergency water releases from three reservoirs in the Upper Colorado River Basin. The DROA coordination will continue until either (i) the minimum probable projected elevation remains above 3,525 feet for 24 months or (ii) the process moves to the next step when the most probable projected elevation indicates Powell elevations below 3,525 feet and a Drought Response Operations Plan is developed. This article contains new, firsthand information uncovered by its reporter(s). Changes in the northeastern reaches of Lake Powell are documented in this series of natural-color images taken by the Landsat series of satellites between 1999 and 2021. View our Current Membership Thank You Gifts, KNAU News Talk - Arizona Public Radio | In the early years of this image series, water levels began to drop. Click below for water level and accessibity updates about the launch ramps and services near you. But it is concerning. A Colorado River flows drop and tensions rise, water interests struggle Can the Ancient Humpback Chub Hang On in Todays Grand Canyon? Hydrologists recently updated the model that forecasts the level of Lake Powell. Lukas noted that the dry soil conditions are factored into the NOAA runoff predictions from the get-go so there shouldnt necessarily be any big surprises with that particular variable. According to Jay Lund, vice director for the Center for Watershed Sciences and a professor at the University of California, the long-term average use in the lower Colorado River Basin exceeds the long-term flow of water, meaning the only solution is to "substantially reduce water use" in the basin. Its not a hypothetical situation anymore.. Part of the Glen Canyon Conservancy Family, Utah D.O.T Charles Hall Ferry for UT Route 276. But in a statement, she said, The Upper Basin States are working collaboratively with the Bureau of Reclamation to draft a 2022 Drought Response Operations Plan outlining potential releases from Upper Basin reservoirs in an effort to protect critical elevations at Lake Powell. The forecast for water year 2023 unregulated inflow to Lake Powell, issued on January 5, 2023, by the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center, projects that the most probable (median) unregulated inflow volume in water year 2023 will be 9.5 maf (99 percent of average). The most probable inflow scenario reflects a median hydrologic condition which statistically would be exceeded 50 percent of the time. In addition to daily scheduled fluctuations for power generation, the instantaneous releases from Glen Canyon Dam may also fluctuate to provide 40 megawatts (MW) of system regulation. The water levels at Lake Powell have dropped around 100 feet in the last three years. 15 Day Weather Forecast A Tier 3 shortage would impact the amount of . The grim forecast comes as water officials race to bolster Lake Powells water levels. google_color_url = "426C95"; The Colorado River flows from the Rocky Mountains in Colorado through the southwestern United States. CNN's Bill Weir has more. The May report, released last week, is the final runoff prediction for the season. The reduction of releases from Lake Powell from 7.48 maf to 7.00 maf in water year 2022 resulted in a reduced release volume of 0.480 maf that normally would have been released from Glen Canyon Dam to Lake Mead as part of the 7.48 maf annual release volume, consistent with operations under the 2007 Interim Guidelines. Fish & Wildlife Service Endangered Species Success Stories. endstream endobj startxref Under the current most probable forecast, the total water year 2023 unregulated inflow to Lake Powell is projected to be 10.44 maf (109 percent of average). Some Arizona cities have implemented drought management plans to conserve water, but the area continues to use water at a rate that negates Lake Powell's recovery. U.S. Arizona Drought Climate Change Water Conservation. To view the current inflow forecast relative to past inflows, click on Lake Powell Inflow Forecast. Note that projections of elevation and storage for water year 2023 have significant uncertainty at this point in the season. He also was an associate editor at 5280 and a reporter for the Vail Daily. hbbd``b`$WX)! By, What We Know, And What You Can Do To Help. Low water effects to launch ramps and services top Lake Powell Elevation (05/18/2022) 3526.05 ft Stay in the know! Up to 80 percent of water use in the basin is for agricultural purposes, but urban water conservation serves an important purpose, too. Mitchell declined to discuss the pending drought operations plan. and last updated 5:24 PM, Sep 24, 2021. But the region is battling a multidecade drought with rain harder to come by. hVmO0+_'"Bi?H!R`Mkwj3#tq@x k8,Q\yDIU>H "This is probably the largest reservoir system in the country in terms of storage. Antelope Point Marina on Feb. 3, 2022, in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area near Page. 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