Lake Powell, the second-largest reservoir in the U.S., has dropped to its lowest level on record. The water and power produced by the system supplies millions of people in the West.
On July 23, the reservoir’s level fell to 3,555.09 feet. The previous record low was set in April 2005.
A 20-year megadrought and hotter temperatures with climate change have contributed to shrinking water supplies in the Colorado River.
The Bureau of Reclamation had announced last week that it was likely this weekend that the reservoir would hit its lowest level since first being filled in the 1960s with water from the Colorado River.
...The reservoir was created as a storage bucket to help states in the Upper Colorado River Basin — Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming — send enough downstream water to the Lower Basin, including Mexico, Arizona, California and Nevada, to meet their obligations.
...The seven basin states agreed in the 2019 Colorado River Drought-Contingency Plan that if Lake Powell is projected to drop below 3,525 feet, the Bureau of Reclamation can send more water to Lake Powell from these upstream reservoirs. The latest 24-month projections show that it’s likely to drop below that critical threshold next year.
...If Lake Powell drops below that critical threshold of 3,525 feet it would jeopardize Glen Canyon Dam’s ability to produce hydropower for multiple states. It would also make it more challenging for Colorado and the other Upper Basin states to meet their obligations of sending a certain amount of water downstream.
No comments:
Post a Comment