Colorado River Lake Powell water level|Bureau of Reclamation|CC BY-SA 2.0
On Tuesday, the US officials declared measures to restore Lake Powell of the Colorado River.
According to the officials:
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The Bureau of Reclamation will release 500,000 acre-feet (616.7 million cubic meters) of water this year from the Flaming Gorge Reservoir on the Wyoming-Utah border upstream. It will flow into Lake Powell.
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Another 480,000 acre-feet of water will be retained in the artificial lake on the Utah-Arizona border.
“We have never taken this step before in the Colorado River Basin, but the conditions we see today and the potential risk we see on the horizon demand that we take prompt action,” Tanya Trujillo, an Interior Department's assistant secretary, told reporters.
Reason behind the decision
The move will ensure a continued hydroelectric power production for seven Western states—Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and Nebraska.
The current water level of Lake Powell—the second-largest reservoir in the country—is at an elevation of 3,523 feet, 177 feet below capacity. If the level drops another 32 feet, the 1,320-megawatt plant would be unable to generate electricity for millions.
