Sunlight brightens plateaus and southeast-facing slopes, casting shadows on the northern and western faces of the rugged landscape. (At normal water levels, both rivers are essentially part of the reservoir.) Detailed Map of Powell From there, a swing to the northeast delivers boats into Lake Powell's main artery. "This is probably the largest reservoir system in the country in terms of storage. (2007). 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. swE{,,;o0U|+/ :u7j@;pGh00gr\j30sAD+ ON 9 Graphical view of Lake Powell water data. The basin states, in a response letter, expressed concern that the water level of Lake Powell would decline below critical elevations, making the dam inoperable. 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. google_ad_format = "160x600_as"; Melissa joined KNAU's team in 2015 to report on science, health, and the environment. Human actions created the Salton Sea, Californias largest lake heres Scientists studying water supply focus on weeks following peak snowpack. google_color_text = "000000"; //2006-10-04: news 8_9dyB`n`` +30|@,6a # This was the lowest water levels have been since the lake was first constructed in the 1930s. Note that projections of elevation and storage for water year 2023 have significant uncertainty at this point in the season. Learn more at, Photos: Heron Lake, New Mexico, August 2022, Data viz: Elephant Butte Reservoir levels, to increase the volume, depth and power of journalism, https://www.watereducationcolorado.org/fresh-water-news/, www.watereducationcolorado.org/fresh-water-news/. Even in low emission climate scenarios (forecasts that are based on the assumption that future carbon dioxide emissions will increase relatively slowly), models predict precipitation may decline by 20-25 percent over most of California, southern Nevada, and Arizona by the end of this century. Despite those releases, Powell dropped below 3,525 last month, hitting 3,523, another historic drought landmark. We are 41% through the Water Year. Low water effects to launch ramps and services top Lake Powell Elevation (05/18/2022) 3526.05 ft Stay in the know! Water supply forecast volumes decreased across most of the region, Moser said during the webinar. The probable minimum inflow scenario reflects a dry hydrologic condition which statistically would be exceeded 90 percent of the time. Last July, to protect the 3,525 buffer zone, Reclamation ordered emergency water releases from three reservoirs in the Upper Colorado River Basin. Among the dams on the Colorado is Arizona's Glen Canyon Dam, which creates Lake Powell. The May report, released last week, is the final runoff prediction for the season. google_ad_height = 600; Lund said that throughout the reservoir's history, it has refilled to its original levels just once. google_color_border = "FFFFFF"; 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). About 40 million people rely on the Colorado River for domestic use and farmers and ranchers use water from the river to irrigate more than 3 million acres of farmland. Everyone Practices Cancel Culture | Opinion, Deplatforming Free Speech is Dangerous | Opinion. The Colorado River flows in from the east around Mille Crag Bend and is swallowed by the lake. The forecast is changing daily and there are still a lot of variables, said Lisa Meiman, a spokeswoman for WAPA. The Water Desk launched in April 2019 with support from the Walton Family Foundation. hb```)," The March 2023 releases are anticipated to fluctuate between a low of 5,276 cfs to a high of 9,641 cfs. Back then, Hannegan said, We made an assumption that our WAPA (Western Area Power Administration) allocation would be firm, reliable and always there. But the region is battling a multidecade drought with rain harder to come by. On April 8, Reclamation announced it would likely keep more water in Lake Powell, reducing releases from the planned 7.5 million acre-feet to 7 million acre-feet, a move that could trigger emergency water cutbacks in Arizona, California and Nevada. inflow forecast for water year 2022 by approximately 2.2 million acre-feet from . The modeling approach for WY 2023 will apply to 2024. The lake is set to reach. Late last fall WAPA, which operates the electric grid and distributes the power to utilities, raised rates 30% to cover reductions in power revenue. Lake Powell is now at a historic low. 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. Correction: This article has been corrected to indicate that Lake Powell began filling 59 years ago, not 60 years, as the original article stated. As of Wednesday, the water level was 3,524.22 feet. Last week, the Bureau of Reclamation announced extraordinary action to keep the water level at Powell from dropping too low, which could threaten hydropower production at Powells Glen Canyon Dam. average basin temperatures and precipitation for the forecast period. The 30-year average was updated in October 2022 from 1981 through 2010 to 1991 through 2020. CNN's Bill Weir has more. Lake Powell has several launch ramps along its 186-mile length. Lake Powell, Printable Version The bureau also announced it would release an additional 500,000 acre-feet of water from Flaming Gorge reservoir in Wyoming to further raise the water level at Powell. KNAUs Melissa Sevigny reports. The critical issue is how to maintain the lake at 3,525, which marks an elevation that is the top of the liquid buffer zone designed to protect the lakes mighty electricity turbines. google_ad_width = 160; Much of that water. The amount of water predicted to flow into Lake Powell this year is down slightly from the previous month, according to the May report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Colorado Basin River Forecast Center. The water levels at Lake Powell have dropped around 100 feet in the last three years. n$L{Z. Detailed Map of Powell google_ad_format = "160x600_as"; But the declining water already has drained some of the fun, he said. google_ad_client = "pub-0146338466817273"; Boats docked at Lake Powell on July 13 . The lake level began to rebound; only the 2008 image appeared to deviate from the trend toward rising water levels. As of Tuesday, February 28th, 2023 where elevation was 3521.04', Copyright Summit Technologies, Inc.1999 - 2023Site Views Today: 0Page Views Today: 0, The 28 tracked reservoirs above Lake Powell are currently at 58.69% of capacity. Drop us a note at tips@coloradosun.com. Newsweek reached out to the U.S. Geological Survey for comment. @) .=] j Bvq2 4=B4[YCO@p/e`5[ #("A3?M|Cd(Jje(B_il:.\7m=.{CZ&&q5O}NOB6jGptUEN1Dh'6dW30oLqmt1W#F/qy<5aJ5 LuQmB(JD'4z`9q#v k[ T monthly forecasts become more accurate. The final NOAA forecast for the season predicts the amount of water to reach Lake Powell this year to be about 60% of average. But a long-term drying trend began in the year 2000. If Glen Canyon Dam ceases to operate, we are going to have to replace that power somewhere else and it will have a bigger carbon footprint, said Bryan Hannegan, CEO of Holy Cross Energy, which buys Lake Powells hydropower to serve customers in Western Colorado. At the same time, power producers are gearing up to craft a fallback plan for extending hydropower production at Glen Canyon Dam if water levels continue to fall. Though the 2022 forecast isnt expected to be finalized until later this month, water officials expect that more water will have to be released from Upper Basin storage reservoirs this summer because inflows into the lake from the drought-stressed Colorado River are expected to be well below average again, in the 60% to 80% range. The nation's second-largest reservoir is under pressure from climate change and steady demand, and is now . Antelope Point Launch Ramp Bullfrog Main Launch Ramp But generally below-normal precipitation the last several months after a very wet December.. //2006-10-04: news Please contact the Operations Group via e-mail at ResourceMgr@usbr.gov for additional information. water-data.com LakePowell Water Database . However, the Bureau of Reclamation's 24-month forecast that was just released at the end of last week projects Lake Mead to be at 1,041.10 feet in January 2023. This level is actually .02 feet . We have to take a strong look at what we will do in the unlikely event that Lake Powell stops producing hydropower, said WAPAs Meiman. 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. To view the current inflow forecast relative to past inflows, click on Lake Powell Inflow Forecast. The grim forecast comes as water officials race to bolster Lake Powell's water levels. 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