Feds Plan Drastic Measures to Raise Lake Powell Level

Canyons in eastern Utah will churn this spring with huge volumes of water—as much as 50,000 toilets flushing constantly at the same time—in a desperate attempt to maintain electricity generation for thousands of homes across much of the US West. The Green and Colorado river flows might seem like a bounty of moisture in a parched desert of sandstone arches and prickly cacti, but in fact it's just the opposite, the AP reports.

• After the driest winter on record, officials this spring want to raise the level of badly depleted Lake Powell on the Colorado River to keep its hydropower humming. To do so, they plan to eventually let out as much as a third of the water in Flaming Gorge Reservoir upstream on the Green River in Wyoming and Utah, which would exceed a record 2022 surge that kept electricity flowing.

• Lake Powell, held back by Glen Canyon Dam, supplies inexpensive and carbon-free electricity to more than 350,000 homes. But it comes at a growing cost elsewhere in a contested river basin relied upon heavily by ranchers, industries, and some 40 million residential water customers.
• At Flaming Gorge in southwestern Wyoming, Buckboard Marina owners Tony and Jen Valdez are eyeing water levels expected to decline by 10 feet by late summer because of the releases. It will mean an ever-longer drive to the water's edge to launch boats. "Of course we're concerned," Jen Valdez says. "And it will probably get to a point where we'll need to be more concerned."
• If everything goes to plan—and with no relief from the weather—Flaming Gorge will fall by as much as 27 feet a year from now, leaving Buckboard Marina even more high and dry. Though it's likely only a temporary solution amid long-term drought, there will be effects downstream, too, as US Bureau of Reclamation water managers plan to keep more water than usual from flowing out of Lake Powell on the Arizona-Utah line.

• Downstream, Lake Mead near Las Vegas is on track to resemble lows four years ago that revealed formerly submerged boats and human remains. The drastic measures are necessary to keep the Powell waterline high enough to run the Glen Canyon Dam power-generation turbines without air getting into the system and causing damage, federal officials say.
• Increasingly frequent drought, evaporation, and water demand—especially to irrigate alfalfa for the cattle industry—have shrunk the level of Lake Powell to 3,526 feet above sea level—just 23% of full capacity. To keep generating power, the reservoir can't fall below 3,490 feet.
• The plan to hold back 1.5 million acre-feet in Lake Powell will result in the Hoover Dam producing 40% less electricity at an even lower Lake Mead downstream.
• Another downside: Warm water from Lake Powell's surface could encourage the spread of smallmouth bass, an invasive fish that competes with a threatened native species, the humpback chub, in the Colorado River downstream from Glen Canyon Dam. Groups including the Grand Canyon Trust urge water managers to mix in deeper, cooler water to keep the Grand Canyon inhospitable to smallmouth bass.