The water level fluctuates by the day, but photos showing the lake as recently as a year ago paint a more complete picture. The worlds disappearing lakes are such a now-ubiquitous problem that there are even listicles about them. At Lake Powell, the nation's second-largest reservoir, record-low water levels are transforming the landscape, renewing a long-standing dispute over the land the reservoir drowned a canyon . The second largest reservoir in the U.S. by total capacity after Lake Mead, Lake Powell spans the Utah/Arizona border, and is an artificial lake created from damming the Colorado River. But it is gorgeous. But its fundamental purpose under the federal law that created it is to serve as a water insurance policy for the Colorado River Basin. That puts us in a critical situation.. The canyon tapered into a kind of dome, where only narrow slivers of sunlight peek through. If the outlet tubes cant meet the reservoirs needs, she said, the flow of water in the Grand Canyon itself could be reduced to a trickle. Earlier this year, the Bureau of Reclamation released about 500,000 acre-feet from Flaming Gorge Reservoir in Utah and Wyoming to Lake Powell, increasing its elevation about 16 feet. (Photo by Alex Hager/KUNC). Diak said the city of Page not only depends on Lake Powell but also the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, the canyons such as Horseshoe Bend and Tssdooltas in ichiii, and Utahs The Mighty 5 national parks Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef and Zion. The lake last year basically carried us because of COVID and everything else being shut down, Diak said. The dropping water levels are indicated by white marks on the canyon wall, often likened to a bathtub ring. Climate change is threatening a reservoir considered a tourist destination in Utah and Arizona. It sounds a little crazy. See a nearly 40-year timelapse of Lake Powell's dry-up from Google Earth here: More Videos. The reservoir created by Glen Canyon Dam is sinking to its lowest level ever because of extreme drought. Necefer, a member of the Navajo Nation, founded the consulting and media group NativesOutdoors and holds a doctorate in engineering and public policy. When its needed its released to Lake Mead and the three Lower Basin states. The studys computer models didnt factor in rising temperatures expected in this region due to climate change. Today its about half full, Kuhn said. "In the short term, Colorado River water users need to figure out how to use less water. It holds a lot, but it's not the one that directly provides water for drinking and farming. water and power as two of the nation's biggest reservoirs continue to dry up inch by inch . As of August 10, water levels were measured to be 3,534.51 feet above sea level. But these laws have never been used to define such big water shortages, so the federal Bureau of Reclamation has started a process to sort it out by late summer 2023. Its strange, he said. It doesn't strain the mind to imagine us losing power within a year. Ad Feedback Video Ad. The water level on Lake Powell is 100 feet from its high mark in August 2013. Rocks that were once underwater now appear on the lakes surface. In a wetter year, it will release 9 million acre feet to Mead. Feb. 14, 2022 California, Arizona and Nevada used 6.8 million acre-feet of Colorado River water in 2020. Its a scary future for water in the West, he said. And then theres a little bit of heartbreak knowing that this area is probably going to be submerged again in a couple of months.. They are trying to negotiate a three-state deal that would reduce water deliveries even further, he said. We have over allocated, and we dont really know how much water is going where, any longer with that, Diak said. That depends on how much more it snows, whether cool temperatures preserve the snow or warm temperatures evaporate it, and how much snowmelt gets absorbed into soils before reaching the river," Pitt said. Stauss an environmentalist who refers to Lake Powell as the reservoir invited a small group of adventurous water wonks to chronicle its historically low water levels. Our situation with the lake, thats a global picture, Diak said. The former and current president both shared Independence Day messages on social media on Tuesday. In addition to the power the lake generates directly, it is a major source of grid resilience when full, serving as a quick backup source in cases where solar or wind power cant meet demand. It is fed by the Colorado River, and provides water for millions of people living in the locality. After a slow cruise around the eerie labyrinth of treetops, Stauss eased the accelerator back into neutral. Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. But as far as Glen Canyon goes, its a pretty amazing silver lining. (Photo by Alex Hager/KUNC), I kind of wish there was a choir here because I think it would be really beautiful, Lehto said. Satellite photographs captured by NASA show Lake Powell in 1999, compared to 2005. But a new study warns that the lake could virtually dry up in as few as six years if the region gets a repeat of the dry spell it experienced from 2000 to 2005. 'The Pick' lottery ticket worth nearly $3M sold in Arizona, Check your tickets! Cathedral in the Desert made a brief above-water appearance in 2005, only to be submerged again until 2019. We're most likely witnessing the end of this reservoir. Certainly, the drought is one of them. That is incorrect. The water levels recovered slightly after that, and continued to fluctuate over the years. Page is not going to be the one that resolves that, he said. While the falling water levels have created a harrowing visual reminder that climate change has put the Wests key water supply on the ropes, the drop revealed a spectacular landscape that environmentalists have called a lost national park., Months of wet weather erase drought across the Southwest. ", It is not just water resources and power that are at risk. Recreational visitors disagree, and water managers have shown reluctance to break so sharply from the status quo. At the muddy, messy delta where the Escalante River meets Lake Powell, Necefer posited that nature bats last. (Photo by Alex Hager/KUNC). The idea that these smaller upstream reservoirs can continue to compensate Powells losses, thats not the case, he said. Cathedral in the Desert made a brief above-water appearance in 2005, only to be submerged again until 2019. Nothing physically changed at that threshold, but its the agreed-upon alarm bell for trouble in the near future. Theres a lot of factors involved with the low water level in Lake Powell, Diak said. The Upper Colorado Commissions computer models have shown that if the Upper Basin states take the precautionary measures theyre talking about, the risk of Powell falling to dangerously low levels is near zero even if the basin gets another 25 years of weather like it did from 1988 through 2012, said Don Ostler, executive director the Upper Colorado River Commission. Just as water demand is going up, the supply is going down. Newsweek reached out to the Central Arizona Project for comment. The nations second-largest reservoir is strained by more than two decades of drought, and its water levels are slipping dangerously low. Climate change is driving more than two decades of drought across the region, and making it increasingly unlikely that Lake Powell will ever climb back to previous levels. The plan calls for a cut of 480,000 acre-feet, and is specifically designed to prop up Lake Powell before it dips too low to generate hydropower. The above-average rain and snowpack recently seen in the region will not help the problems, as the ongoing megadrought has lasted for too long. Indiana Jones taught me to stop resisting, Lehto said as Masters pulled himself out of the muck. "We can make up energy through fossil fuels, but if we fall short on water, we have to restrict supply because there are little to no replacements," he said. Its really, really interesting seeing the way that the ecosystem is recovering, Lehto said. Photos from 2021 and today show how far the lake levels have dropped. What that means for the average person is that the lake is slowly running dry. The water level on Lake Powell is 100 feet from its high mark in August 2013. The big question is how water managers will divvy up a shrinking supply to feed a growing region. But only time will tell how much it will replenish the lake. We are still facing a nearly 1 in 4 chance of Lake Powell returning to "minimum power pool" by 2024 - a risk that remains steady through 2026, the latest year for which Reclamation has forecast. Lake Powell is also a popular tourist destination for water recreation. In the longer term, as climate change continues to warm the region, the problem will get worse, so reducing carbon emissions has to be part of the solution as well.". There are agreements to make sure water comes downstream to the Southwest's reservoirs. We are likely witnessing the end of Lake Powell as we knew it in the 80s and 90s, Balken said. Such is the nature of the climate change beast that we have unleashed.. University of California professor Jay Lund previously told Newsweek that the cuts already implemented aren't enough, and in order to give the reservoirs ample time to recover through rain and snowpack melt, people will need to reduce their consumption even more. That could cripple the ability of the Colorado Rivers four Upper Basin states to deliver river water to the Lower Basin states of Arizona, California and Nevada, as theyre legally obligated to do. Lake Mead, at the other end of the Grand Canyon, is the reservoir that directly provides the water. If Lake. But the Colorado River's rapid drying has pushed the idea of draining Lake Powell from the fringe and given a semblance of legitimacy to water management ideas once considered far-fetched. Creative Commons. Recently, historic record-low water volume in Lake Mead and Lake Powell has been headline news. Those side canyons will likely flood anew, as snow from an epic winter and spring in the Rocky Mountains melts and flows into the reservoir. The lake being somewhere you could social distance. The group, chatty on the way in, falls silent for a moment. Is this as bad as climate change is going to get in shrinking the snowpacks in the headwaters? In addition, Mankin said, interventions like the Flaming Gorge release treat the western U.S.s 20-year drought as a localized phenomenon rather than a regional one. During the 2000-2005 drought, Lake Powell lost 13 million acre-feet of water and dropped almost 100 feet. Nature is taking its last licks in nearly every corner of the sprawling reservoir. Dead pool is 3,370 feet. I dont think we should just think that the drawdown of these reservoirs is over, he said. The Supreme Courts surprising overturn of a 47-year-old precedent on Five things we now know about the 2024 campaign, Negotiations collapse between Teamsters and UPS as strike looms, LGBTQ conservatives say they feel misled by DeSantis, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. A thick, white band of exposed rock face marks where the reservoir once reached. As water levels fall in the reservoirs and river, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has implemented a tiered shortage system to reduce the allocated amount certain regions in the lower basin receive from the river to preserve water. And so this creates a lot of potential problems downstream in the Grand Canyon, it creates management problems for the reservoir itself in Glen Canyon, and most importantly, it jeopardizes the upper[Colorado River]basins ability to meet its delivery obligation downstream, Balken said. China is in default on a trillion dollars in debt to US bondholders. Environmental justice must be at the forefront of responding to our changing planet, lest the worst effects of climate change worsen inequality. Lake Powell is hemmed by the Glen Canyon Dam, which generates hydroelectric power via the dam's water flowing through the dam back into the Colorado River. But for a brief moment in the late winter and early spring, the reservoir was creeping lower by the day. The water then sits in Lake Mead until it's drawn through Hoover Dam, generating power and releasing the water. Powell is not drying out in a vacuum.. Climate scientists say the Colorado River would need five or six winters like this one to rescue its major reservoirs from the brink of crisis. One year of strong snow wont be nearly enough to pull the reservoir out of trouble. Before that, he covered the worlds largest sockeye salmon fishery for KDLG in Dillingham, Alaska. That leaves a sizable deficit and little time to turn things around. In one corner, at the foot of a giant sand mound, a thin waterfall trickled from above. On a local standpoint, our Southwest region here, for us economically, is dependent on a few things.. Do you have a question about Lake Powell? The lake is set to reach its lowest point this year in April, dropping to 3,519.01 feet, according to a study released by the Bureau of Reclamation. It is something in peer-reviewed, published science for decades and decades that the managers of the Colorado River have been ignoring.. KUNC is solely responsible for its editorial coverage. Contact reporter Tony Davis at tdavis@tucson.com or 806-7746. Kos Media, LLC. At the reservoirs marinas, receding water has thrown a curveball to Lake Powells powerhouse recreation industry. State and federal officials should join Save The Colorado in finding acceptable approaches to make the Colorado River through Glen Canyon wild again. Officials still believe that melting snow could keep the lake on life support, but solving the hydropower problem as well as ensuring all communities have water remains a concern, to say nothing of the economic impact of losing a major recreation area. The Southwest has been in a severe drought for the last 22 years and counting, and this year the lake dropped to its lowest level since the dam was built. If the lakes levels drop below 3,490, Hawes added, the Bureau of Reclamation will have to run water through a series of river outlet tubes, the lowest delivery mechanism in the lake, for the first time since the 1980s, and bureau officials dont actually know if they can handle that much water, she said. But Lake Powell alone did not meet the needs that the city of Page suffered, especially after the Navajo Generating Station and the Kayenta Mine shut down. Further upstream, the Hite Marina, once a busy put-in for boats, is stranded so far away from the water that it is now shuttered. Diak said this means that people can do a better job at conserving water where they can, especially in the Southwest where water is critical. At marinas along Lake Powell, the distance between the parking lot and the shore of the reservoir has gotten dramatically longer over the past two decades. In March 2022, the lake fell below a critical level of 3,525 feet above sea levelthe lake's target elevation. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. The next red flag level is called the . 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With the dropping water levels, this industry is likely to be extremely impacted, as seen by a boating ramp that used to be used to launch boats now having a 50 foot drop between the end of the ramp and the water. Posted: Oct 4, 2022 / 05:01 AM CDT Updated: Oct 4, 2022 / 04:15 PM CDT If Lake Powell recedes much further, one of the nation's largest reservoirs could be at risk of no longer generating. "Climate change makes these extreme weather events both more frequent and more severe, '' Matthew Casale, Environment Campaigns Director at non-profit advocacy group PIRG, previously told Newsweek. The water has changed the entire shape of the lake, especially around the popular Wahweap Marina. USBR Hydrodata - Live Reservoir Data. The state already is on the edge of shortages for its $4 billion Central Arizona Project. Lake Powell is in crisis. That climate data, and the fate of the lake, should concern the millions of people downstream. Lake Powell is a whopping 104 feet below full pool. Federal officials are warning that the West's escalating water crisis. At Bullfrog Marina, where Stauss rented the pontoon boat, what was once a gentle ramp right next to the parking lot is now a strip of concrete hundreds of feet long. These photos were taken 9 months apart (Top photo 6/23/21 - Bottom photo 3/27/22) at Lake Powell's Lone Rock Beach in Utah. Filmmaker Ben Masters, a member of the expedition, wriggled around until he was waist deep and needed a hand to get unstuck. Occasionally, toads jump from the streams sandy banks. (Photo by Alex Hager/KUNC), Canyon walls at Cathedral in the Desert are reflected in a small stream on April 10, 2023. THE HILL 1625 K STREET, NW SUITE 900 WASHINGTON DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 TEL | 202-628-8503 FAX. Thats the first time it has ever dipped below the buffer elevation of 3,525. This will effectively "drain Lake Powell.". This is when the water level drops so low that it can no longer turn the dam's turbines. Secondly, were a growing nation and we continue to have a need for additional water. The fact that they're becoming involved in this manner points to real concerns that they must have and they must view the situation as one of extreme difficulty that requires them to act more directly. The former and current president both shared Independence Day messages on social media on Tuesday. Reclamation's models forecast Lake Powell holding steady, but the coming year depends on how much snowmelt hits the river this spring.". Capitol rioter Taylor Taranto was recently arrested after filming himself outside of former President Barack Obama's residence in Washington, D.C. A side-by-side comparison shows Lake Powell in 1999, compared to 2005, a period when water levels plummeted. Because of that, the spring and early summer will bring a temporary boost to water levels while snow runs into rivers and eventually flows into Lake Powell. ET: The dead pool level of Lake Powell has been corrected. Drought Conditions Affect Two-Thirds of the U.S. Experts say that the reservoir may dry up completely in a few decades. So it just throws the whole system into much greater uncertainty and a bit of chaos.. Teal Lehto, who makes short videos about the Colorado River on TikTok under the name WesternWaterGirl, pushed past a dense thicket of willows as we hiked through the canyon. The seven U.S. states that share its water are at a standoff about how to cut back on demand. As of Thursday, Lake Mead was at 1,045.79 feet. (Photo by Alex Hager/KUNC), Snowy mountains loom behind lake Powell near Halls Crossing on April 10, 2023. Institute Executive Director Eric Balken said taking such a step would better position stakeholders to address the drought on their own terms rather than simply running out. The water levels in Lake Mead and Lake Powell are so low "that we're no longer speaking of a drought." . The federal government has proposed an unprecedented plan to cut back on water supplies for Arizona, Nevada and California. We don't know if we can release water to meet downstream requirements. "Based on the best climate data that's available, it's really unlikely that this reservoir is going to be around in the decades to come," Eric Balken of the Glen Canyon Institute told 12News. Lake Powell is hemmed by the Glen Canyon Dam, which generates hydroelectric power via the dam's water flowing through the dam back into the Colorado River. At 3,522 feet, Lake Powell's water surface elevation is at its lowest point since it was first filled in the 1960s, per a statement. Capitol rioter Taylor Taranto was recently arrested after filming himself outside of former President Barack Obama's residence in Washington, D.C. Stock image of Alstrom Point, Lake Powell. The measure aims to keep water levels high enough to generate hydropower at the Glen Canyon Dam. Experts predict this will happen if water policies in the area do not change. Its depth level currently stands at around 3,530 feet. This has caused water levels at certain reservoirs, like Lake Powell, to rise. The trekkers tap-danced across it, careful not to sink too deep, but egged each other on to test its limits. The third would transfer some water stored in the smaller Upper Basin reservoirs to Lake Powell. But this doesnt mean the lake is closed, said Page Mayor Bill Diak. /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. In the meantime, Stauss relished the brief glimpse at what that might look like. The boat idled in front of the messy, muddy delta of the Escalante River, which carries snowmelt about 90 miles through southeast Utah before it runs into Lake Powell, in an area that was once the free-flowing Colorado River. The past few springs delivered relatively low runoff, leading to summers fraught with mandatory water cutbacks and emergency releases from smaller reservoirs efforts primarily focused on keeping water in Lake Powell. The Lower Basins legal share is 7.5 million acre feet a year. If Lake Powell recedes much further, one of the nations largest reservoirs could be at risk of no longer generating hydropower for the region. In case of a drought like that of 2000-2005, Lake Mead would get 7.48 million acre-feet, worsening the structural deficit that is already causing Mead to drop by up to 12 feet a year due to the Lower Basin states chronic overuse of river water compared to supply. Weather, climate change and low snowpack is all coming together against the lake. Kuhns analysis is the worst case, said Pat Tyrrell, Wyoming state engineer who has been involved in the Upper Basin water talks. Kathryn Sorensen, research director at the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University, said it will push water managers further in the direction of finding more permanent solutions. The Glen Canyon Institute has advocated for draining Lake Powell, both to replenish Lake Mead and to restore Glen Canyon, which was flooded to create Lake Powell. Its another one of these markers of restoration to see Cathedral come back and to know that its not just a fraction of what it once was, but its going to be full size.. Balken surmises the jugs were tied to the trees back when Lake Powell just covered their upper branches to warn boaters of the hazard beneath the surface. The Glen Canyon Dam was. If the reservoirs reach dead-pool levels, more than a million people using the electricity could be required to find new power sources. There are plans to extend it, but no money for it yet. When I look at our economy and the loss of revenues, he said, I attribute that to loss of jobs and loss of income to families. He works as the outreach coordinator for Glen Canyon Institute, a conservation nonprofit that campaigns for draining the reservoir and highlights the beauty of Glen Canyon, which was flooded in the 1960s to create Lake Powell. I think we should use the moment to rethink completely how we store, use and conserve water across the Westand I think Glen Canyon should be at the heart of that conversation.. What is the long-term future of Lake Powell? Every year, it stores water that flows downstream from the four Upper Basin states. A pontoon boat is tied up at the shore of a recently revealed beach in one of Lake Powells side canyons on April 10, 2023. Its constantly changing, he said. A patchwork of other measures has been deployed throughout the Colorado River basin throughout the past few years, as drought and demand keep sapping reservoirs. , Lake Powell's demise is a sign of what's to come with climate change, Ways to get involved in the upcoming elections. Had the water level continue to drop, power production at the dam would have ended in 2007. This level was set as a red flag to give researchers and scientist's time to develop a more in depth plan to address the continued drought. The idea is simple: take Lake Powell water and transfer it to Lake Mead where less water will seep into the banks. Its impossible to even guess the odds of the Colorado Basin getting another six-year arid spell any time soon, said Udall and another longtime Colorado River researcher, Connie Woodhouse, a professor in the University of Arizonas School of Geography and Development. The latest report from the US Bureau of Reclamation shows Lake Mead at just over 1,040 feet above sea level in July, having dropped nearly 10 feet in just two months, and is currently at just 27% . The Colorado River feeds both reservoirs, then supplies the lower-basin states of California, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico with water. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community. Notifications can be turned off anytime in the browser settings. If the lake's water level were to reach 3,370 feet, it would be at dead pool level. An acre-foot is the amount of water needed to fill one acre of land to a height of one foot. The favorable conditions could relieve the need for emergency changes to Colorado River management, allowing the seven states that share its water to wait until 2026 for broader changes. Based on the best climate data that's available, it's really unlikely that this reservoir is going to be around in the decades to come," said Eric Balken with the Glen Canyon Institute.
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