Lake Powell officers take emergency steps to protect hydropower from Glen Canyon Dam

Step one is releasing more water from upstream on the Colorado River this year. The second is water will probably be held back in Lake Powell itself, instead of being sent to downstream states.

The US Bureau of Reclamation expects the twin actions will boost Lake Powell by almost 1 million acre-feet of water. The reservoir contained about 5.8 million acre-feet of water as of Tuesday, in line with the bureau, although its full capacity is round 25 million acre-feet.

Without the emergency steps, the bureau estimated there was a few 25% chance the Glen Canyon Dam might have stopped producing hydropower by January. The dam generates power for as many as 5.8 million houses and businesses in seven states.

The company said in a statement Tuesday's determination was supposed to protect "hydropower generation, the power's key infrastructure, and the water provide for the town of Page, Arizona, and the LeChee Chapter of the Navajo Nation."

The emergency actions will buy the federal government 12 months because it considers longer-term measures.

"We now have never taken this step earlier than, however the potential danger on the horizon calls for prompt motion," Assistant Secretary of Water and Science, Tanya Trujillo instructed reporters. "We need to work collectively to stabilize the reservoir earlier than we face a bigger disaster."

Lake Powell has dropped round 100 ft in the last three years because the West has been besieged by drought. As the water degree has fallen, Glen Canyon Dam has misplaced about 16% of its capacity to generate power.

Bryan Hill, common supervisor of the general public power utility in Web page, Arizona, likened the situation to judgment day.

"We're knocking on the door of judgment day," Hill previously told CNN. "Judgment day being when we have no water to give anyone."

The decisions made for Lake Powell additionally affect its downstream neighbor, Lake Mead, which is the largest reservoir within the nation.

Water cuts for individuals who depend on Lake Mead started in January, and Tuesday's choice may result in further restrictions.

Lake Mead's water level is now low sufficient to show one of the reservoir's original, 1971 water consumption valves for the primary time. The valve can no longer draw water, based on the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the agency answerable for managing water assets for two.2 million individuals in southern Nevada, including Las Vegas.

Officials over the weekend made another disturbing discovery introduced on by Lake Mead's plummeting water level: a body in a barrel police say is a possible murder victim from the Nineteen Eighties.

"The lake has drained dramatically over the past 15 years," said Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Homicide Lieutenant Ray Spencer. "It is probably that we will find additional bodies which have been dumped in Lake Mead" because the water level drops more.