Explain that a little bit for us, Luke, and just how dire the situation is for the groundwater in the region. This cookie is used to manage the interaction with the online bots. Grim Future for Lake Powell Water levels in Lake Powell are at record lows. Its companion reservoir, Lake Mead, is at levels almost as low. "Its unfortunate that thelargely natural occurrence of a drought has coincided with this increasing warming due to greenhouse gases," said Flavio Lehner, aprofessor of atmospheric sciences at Cornell University. Having a reliable Lake Powell to back up Lake Mead is crucial especially during a period of uncertainty, Lower Basin users say. The Colorado River systems reservoirs combined arecurrently less than half full. But even some creosote is dying, unable to take the one-two punch of both the hottest and driest conditions on record last year in parts of Arizona. That year is the deadline for water users to negotiate a new set of managing guidelines for the Colorado River. The word unprecedented gets thrown around a lot in discussions about the Colorado River these days, and this is no exception. And Lake Mead is currently at 37% capacity. Used by Yahoo to provide ads, content or analytics. If the water levels drop to levels below the intake pipes, the water flow will cease to turn the hydroelectric turbines, and the dam won't generate any power. Lake Powell, the nation's second-largest reservoir and one thatprovides water and power to millions of people in southern California, has reached its lowest levels since its first filling in the 1960s. Welcome back to Science Friday, Luke. One leg would involve reducing water demand by farmers and cities in the Upper Basin. This Statista chart shows the share of the continental United States' area under different levels of drought between 2018 and 2022. Depending on how you define "dry up." It's doubtful that all 1,450 miles of the Colorado River will turn to dust, even if we drain Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the nation's two largest. Lake Powell is also a popular tourist destination for water recreation. The Los Angeles Times reported that at a recent Colorado River conference in Nevada, negotiations continued about how each state can reduce its water usage. A cookie set by YouTube to measure bandwidth that determines whether the user gets the new or old player interface. These ICS uses, at the high end, amount to two and a half feet of elevation in Lake Mead. The cookie does not store any personally identifiable data. Officials say the lowest level at which Glen Canyon Dam can . In March, the reservoir passed an important threshold. And theres already a supply-demand imbalance on the Colorado River, and the supply is shrinking faster than officials are able to shrink the demands that we have on the river. Conditions have been deteriorating across the river basin since the summer of 2020. The third would transfer some water stored in the smaller Upper Basin reservoirs to Lake Powell. It took 16 years for it to fill. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. Dry soils soak up snow when it melts, keeping it from rivers and reservoirs. A pair of before and after photos at Lake Powell . The Southwest United States is wrapping up an abnormally dry winter. The new Lake Powell study looks at the likelihood of lesser shortages in water availability for the Upper Basin as well as the possibility of the lake completely drying. And thats really what were watching right now, is how low is Lake Mead going to go? water level is too low to flow downstream, Everyone Practices Cancel Culture | Opinion, Deplatforming Free Speech is Dangerous | Opinion. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". Hes a reporter at KUNC, based in Fort Collins, Colorado. Dry conditions are the worst theyve been in almost 20 years across the Colorado River watershed, which acts as the drinking and irrigation water supply for 40 million people in the American Southwest. However, the receding water levels have already greatly reduced the reservoirs generating capacity, to about 800 megawattsabout 60 percent. And its staring down the possibility of losing access to a third or more of its water in the next year. Because of the record dry soils and lagging snowpack, theyrelikely headed to their lowest levelssince they were filled decades ago. Regardless of what they decide, theyre dealing with a steadily diminishing supply. The Lower Basins legal share is 7.5 million acre feet a year. Its lagging in both the Upper and Lower basins, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration projects much of the watershed totilt toward hotter and drier weatherfor the rest of the winter. On top of the hydropower the lake generates, its the source of drinking water for the 7,500 residents of Page, Az., and the 1,443 members of the LeChee chapter of the Navajo Nation. It supplies water and power to Arizona, California and Nevada. Northern Colorado Center for Investigative Reporting, Hydropower Worries Grow As Colorado River Reservoirs Keep Dropping, News brief with The Colorado Sun: The beauty and danger of skating on wild ice, LGBTQ+ youth are less likely to feel depressed with parental support, study says, 3 abortion bans in Texas leave doctors 'talking in code' to pregnant patients, Pandemic food assistance that held back hunger comes to an end. Dead pool is 3,370 feet. You cant do that with groundwater. As of Thursday, Lake Mead was at 1,045.79 feet. Its not quite as bad as 2002, she said, but it could easily get there. JOHN DANKOSKY: So obviously, people are preparing for worse times. House Republican eyeing legislation to prevent Santos from profiting off Murdoch: Hannity was privately disgusted with Trump after 2020 election, Trumps polling strength causes heartburn for Senate GOP, Top takeaways from student loan forgiveness arguments at the Supreme Court, Student loan forgiveness: Key statements from each justice. What is the long-term future of Lake Powell? LinkedIn sets this cookie to store performed actions on the website. Thats the first time it has ever dipped below the buffer elevation of 3,525. Future conservation efforts are highly uncertain. 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. Its depth level currently stands at around 3,530 feet. The lake was just under 24 percent full as of last week, and had lost 16 feet in the last year. Newsweek previously. The Colorado River cuts through dry land that was once covered by Lake Powell on September 7, 2022, near Hite, Utah. 40 fun events happening in Tucson this weekend Feb. 23-26 , Opinion: Help protect Lake Mead and Colorado River water, Colorado River runoff forecast keeps dropping, Warm weather reducing Colorado River runoff, study finds, Feds back off from Lake Mead water demand, Businesses, residents paid to save water in this Arizona valley, Tucson to leave nearly 20% of its CAP water in Lake Mead, 'Toilet to tap' water treatment will soon be legal in Arizona, officials say, Big snowstorms put Colorado River drought plan on ice, Colorado River tops group's 'endangered' list again, CAP-California water deal that Arizona nixed provokes ongoing conflict, Water bailout? The latest projections from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation show there's a. And data updated Monday from the California Department of Water Resources' tracker show the reservoir climbing to 60%, still below historical levels for February 72% but significantly higher than it had been. With the reservoirs approaching their lowest levels in modern history, that brings us to our final number: 2026. LUKE RUNYON: Yeah, so this is something that is harder for us to visualize, because were so used to looking at reservoirs and rivers. The Glen Canyon Dam, D'deest'in Htsaa, marks where the water level in Lake Powell on the Colorado River, reaches. Together, these reservoirs, fed by the mighty Colorado River, provide the water 40million Americans depend on. In coming years, it's going to get worse and worse and worse.. Experts say it wont be a silver bullet, but could stave off near-term danger. 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. The Lower Basin fares worse, with 93% of the land area in those categories. This story was reported by Luke Runyon on KUNC. And as we warm even further, it makes it that much harder for our infrastructure, our water storage, to recover. YSC cookie is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages. Definitions explained. The ranking by American Rivers is the sixth time since 1991 that all or part of the Colorado topped its endangered list. The reality is that it's probably too little, too late.. This is when were supposed to be gaining and accumulating water in the form of snowpack, and thats not happening, Selover said. Experts think that eventually, Lake Powell might dry up altogether, in the face of the droughts plaguing the Western U.S. Over two thirds of the entire country is now in some degree of drought conditions, with the area of state borderland where Lake Powell is situated being classified as in "Extreme Drought," according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Water levels at . works with the radio team to create our weekly show, and is helping to build our State of Science Reporting Network. On the contrary, he said, its actually become this locus of huge uncertainty, which doesnt allow downstream users to make effective plans, because they dont know what their allocations are going to be. And it's not a backroom voodoo mystery that only fortune tellers can forecast. For those talks to start in the middle of another record-breaking dry period should make it clear to everyone involved: the future of the Colorado River is all about learning to live with less. Experts say that the reservoir may dry up completely in a few decades. Glen Canyon Dam in Lake Powell near Page, Arizona on July 4, 2010. This is very unpredictable and these are going to be difficult conversations in the coming years.. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". Record-breaking high temperatures dragged well into fall. This cookie is used for storing country code selected from country selector. For terms of use and more information, visit our policies pages athttp://www.sciencefriday.com/about/policies/. He has mostly covered environmental stories since 2005, focusing on water supplies, climate change, the Rosemont Mine and the endangered jaguar. JOHN DANKOSKY: So you know, with so many stories like this, we say, this is probably due to climate change. Two Mexican states also receive Colorado River water. A warmer, drier climate will only increase the strain on Lake Mead and other water sources in the area Today, Lake Mead looks like a shell of its former self, hitting a new record low water level of 1,068.08 feet above sea level, according to a report from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. The water level at Lake Mead is sitting at just 39%, while Lake Powell is at 36%. Alex is KUNC's reporter covering the Colorado River Basin. In addition, the river itself experiences more evaporation. "You might not see the lush lawns of today and endless fields of alfalfa, but you will see thriving communities and agricultural regions. The negotiations promise to be a more intense process than the basin saw in the lead-up to the last set of guidelines in 2007, or the effort to bring together drought contingency plans in 2019. "It would kill 50 to 60% of the businesses in town," said Franz. Lake Powell is in crisis. These reservoirs are as empty now as when they started filling Glen Canyon Dam in the 1960s, said John Fleck, director of the University of New Mexicos water resources program. The finding is ominous for the region's future drinking-water supply. YouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video. In March, the reservoir passed an important threshold. They've been ignoring the problem coming for decades and decades. 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. Page mayor: Lake Powell is not drying up. Its 90% of the water supply to Las Vegas, 50% to Phoenix, effectively 100% to Tucson and 25% to Los Angeles, said Udall. JOHN DANKOSKY: Luke Runyon is a reporter based at KUNC in Fort Collins, Colorado. Lake Mead and Lake Powell, for water. These cookies help provide anonymized information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. Down the Colorado River lies Lake Mead, which is also seeing lower water levels than ever before. Its also headed toward a record low later this year. Complicating matters are the ongoing talks on allocation between the seven states on the Colorado River, the source of the lakes waters. The state already is on the edge of shortages for its $4 billion Central Arizona Project. When its needed its released to Lake Mead and the three Lower Basin states. The water in Lake Mead on Wednesday reached a new low 1070.6 feet above sea level since it was filled in the 1930's, according to data provided by the US Bureau of Reclamation. 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. Science Friday transcripts are produced on a tight deadline by 3Play Media. If water levels at Lake Powell drop just another 32 feet, those generators will stop spinning. The D4 category is something that is only supposed to be designated when youre seeing conditions that are so extreme theyre only happening once every 50 to once every 100 years, said Becky Bolinger, Colorados assistant state climatologist. Powell is not drying out in a vacuum.. This is the highest percentage of land in the rivers Upper Basin since 2002, which stands as the regions driest year on record. Whether the six-year cycle of 2000-05 repeats itself is anybodys guess, said Pat Tyrrell, Wyoming state engineer who has been involved in the Upper Basin water talks. Share on Facebook; . In a wetter year, it will release 9 million acre feet to Mead. The test_cookie is set by doubleclick.net and is used to determine if the user's browser supports cookies. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. 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. Copyright 2021 Science Friday Initiative. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. Officials have already taken some stopgap measures to avert the lake getting down to the pivotal 3,490-foot mark. The lake was just under 24 percent full as of. As of August 10, water levels were measured to be 3,534.51 feet above sea level. The regions been looking warily at the reservoirs along this long river that winds its way from Colorados Rocky Mountains all the way to Mexico, just shy of the Gulf of California. If levels dropped below 3,490 feet, there wouldnt be enough water flowing through Glen Canyon Dams turbines to generate power. "That has brought everything to a head much earlier than people thought it would.". The study was financed by the district, which is based in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, along with the Southwestern Water Conservation District in Durango, and four water groups in Western Colorado that represent various interests. A drying climate and withering heat in recent years have pummeled the region: water cuts to farmers, dry wells, mass fish and bird die-offs, and depleted reservoirs that have decimated hydropower output. One acre-foot generally provides enough water for one to two households for a year. But the warming temperatures that were seeing make it considerably worse than it would have been. The low levels arent just causing hand-wringing among the Wests water officials. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. And thats because some of these past agreements have put that state in the most vulnerable position for cutbacks. Twitter sets this cookie to integrate and share features for social media and also store information about how the user uses the website, for tracking and targeting. LinkedIn sets this cookie from LinkedIn share buttons and ad tags to recognize browser ID. SiteLock sets this cookie to provide cloud-based website security services. Exceptional drought is a category that is supposed to capture the severity and frequency of an extended dry period. The river is a lifeline, providing water to more than . LinkedIn sets this cookie to remember a user's language setting. As an imbalance between water supplies and demands grows in the region, KUNC is committed to covering the stories that emerge. An acre-foot is 325,851 gallons, or the amount of water that will flood an acre of land to a depth of one foot. Credit: Alex Hager. The combined reservoirs in Utah are below 50% full. Back-to-back dry years years with below-average runoff have left little water in Lake Mead and Lake Powell, a reservoir upstream. A large portion of the water in the Colorado River and Lake Powell comes from high-mountain snowmelt in Colorado and Wyoming. The southwestern US has been dealing with drought conditions for years, and thats had a big impact on the Colorado River basin. ", States that use Colorado River Basin water mandated to cut use. He and his wife have four cats, thousands of bees, and a yoga studio in the sleepy Northwest hills of Connecticut. Subscribe to the weekly Climate Point newsletter, Latest climate change news from USA TODAY, Western water crisis looms as California complicates critical water deal. This cookie is native to PHP applications. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. This cookie is set by Facebook to display advertisements when either on Facebook or on a digital platform powered by Facebook advertising, after visiting the website. The second would step up cloud-seeding programs to try to boost snowfall in the region. That includes releases of water upstream of Lake Powell, and voluntary cuts in Powells downstream neighbor, Lake Mead. The lake avoided serious problems during the drought because, in 1999, it was almost full. Lake Powell is supposed to buffer water supply during times of drought [and] it is not performing that function now. 2020. Lake Powell is the town's lifeline. "Its hard to overstate how important the Colorado River is to the entire American southwest.. These cookies do not allow the tracking of navigation on other websites and the data collected is not combined or shared with third parties. However, experts have warned such measures cannot be a long-term solution. In the desert of California lies another manmade lake condemned to death, the Salton Sea. 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. LUKE RUNYON: So in the Colorado River basin, a lot of the management of the river is tied to the level of its two largest reservoirs. Kathleen Davis is a producer at Science Friday, which means she spends the week brainstorming, researching, and writing, typically in that order. The future of the reservoir is largely uncertain, but climate science and recent actions by the government are providing some hints as to what might happen in the near future. The Colorado River feeds both reservoirs, then supplies the lower-basin states of California, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico with water. Phoenix has underground wells and plusa it gets water from the CAP canal directly from the Colorado river, then there are several near full dams nearby. I would say less than 20 percent, Ostler said. KUNC is solely responsible for its editorial coverage. This story is part of ongoing coverage of water in the West, produced by KUNC in Colorado and supported by the Walton Family Foundation. People should definitely not feel like the agencies managing the Colorado River have it under control, he said. It doesnt matter if we get an incredible snowpack, our soils are so depleted right now that thats not going to really translate to water coming down through the river systems, Meyer said. It is not creating certainty in the water market, Mankin said. Are experts looking at this saying, its just going to get worse in the Colorado River basin? She said the very fact that officials in Washington, D.C. are getting involved underscores the urgency of Lake Powells crisis. The idea that these smaller upstream reservoirs can continue to compensate Powells losses, thats not the case, he said. a study published in the journal Science said the current dry period in the Southwest is one for the record books, and that its "megadrought-like trajectory" is fueled by natural variability superimposed on . 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. That is incorrect. The Colorado River basin has experienced three D4 droughts in the last 20 years, including the current one. The dam's evil has had no more prolific publicist than the writer Edward Abbey, whose Monkey Wrench Gang aspired ultimately to bring down the dam. Arizona, which receives 36 percent of its water supply from the river, according to the Arizona Department of Water Resources, has been hit hardest by the cuts. Lake Mead's water level on Wednesday was measured at 1,044.03 feet, its lowest elevation since the lake was filled in the 1930s. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. Things will have to change in how we do business.. The district entered 2021 with a record 3.2 million acre-feet of water storage saved up, including 1.3 million acre-feet in Lake Mead. 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. The nation's second-largest reservoir is under pressure from climate change and steady demand, and is now . Lake Powell's feeble condition is part of a climate reckoning in the West that links water, ecosystems, food production, and energy generation. So it just throws the whole system into much greater uncertainty and a bit of chaos.. A drought that has gripped the Southwest is creeping the nation's two largest reservoirs toward a dead pool, which would have catastrophic consequences for water users in the Colorado River's lower basin. As the drought continues and global warming evaporates water supplying the reservoirs, each reservoir isn't far from dead pool, which is when the water level is too low to flow downstream or power the turbines that provide hydroelectric power. LUKE RUNYON: Sure, so much of the attention in the basin goes towards the rivers largest reservoirs, which also happen to be the biggest reservoirs in the entire United States. Glen Canyon Dam can release water below minimum power pool through bypass jets until an elevation of 3,370 feet, which is then the top of dead pool and no further water can be released. So when Lake Mead declines, certain policy triggers are put in place. Lake Oroville (of the enormous spillway failure fame) and Lake Shasta, two of California's largest reservoirs, are at critical levels. After more than 22 years of drought compounded by warmer temperatures with climate change, Lake Mead and Lake Powell have declined to their lowest levels since they were filled. Even hardy desert plants, the ones well-adapted to water scarcity, have struggled. JOHN DANKOSKY: This is Science Friday. "I've been here since 2007 and obviously this is way lower than I've ever seen it.". Water managers in the four Upper Basin states and the federal government are expected to start monthly planning calls this year to consider options for propping up the reservoir if needed. An acre-foot is the amount of water needed to fill one acre of land to a height of one foot. Lake Mead the largest reservoir in the Colorado River Basin is losing water at record speeds, dropping . However, he said the biggest impact will be the water. Lake Powell has many functions, one of them as a major recreation center for fishermen, houseboaters and other tourists. What does the forecast look like? These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. They don't have it under control. If the water level continues falling on its own, below minimum power pool, the dam is physically incapable of releasing a lot of water. The lake that once covered 400 square miles has shrunk 90 percent, leaving behind oxygen-deprived, highly salinized water with a rotten-egg odor that permeates the surrounding area. "The federal government generally prefers to let the stakeholders work things through, Sorensen said. The basin is made up of portions of Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California. 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. Many of the. As part of 2019s Drought Contingency Plan, water managers agreed that the reservoirs water should be kept above 3,525 feet to provide a buffer before it got even lower, giving the agencies in charge some time to come up with a fix. How does climate change affect you? 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. It wascreated by blocking the Colorado River atGlen Canyon in southern Utah and northernArizona. So the question is, how bad is it going to get? So Luke, I dont know is this all just because of climate change? VigLink sets this cookie to show users relevant advertisements and also limit the number of adverts that are shown to them. This is a 300-mile canal that runs through the deserts of Arizona to deliver water to farmers and to the Phoenix and Tucson metro areas. 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. Getty Images. Thank you for helping us continue making science fun for everyone. By the end of the summer, its projected to be even lower, at 29% of its capacity, which is a record low. Lake Mead's level is 1,047 feet above sea level. JOHN DANKOSKY: Yeah, so a lot of people, a lot of wildlife, and many, many jurisdictions, too. That deficit is about the same amount of precipitation that falls across Utah in an entire year. Lake Powells crisis under different levels of drought between 2018 and 2022 covering the that. Was once covered by Lake Powell water levels at Lake Mead was at 1,045.79 feet is. Desert plants, the Rosemont Mine and the three Lower what happens if lake powell dries up States this is the highest of... Quite as bad as 2002, which stands as the regions driest year on record below the buffer of. Next year year, it was almost full %, while Lake Powell drop another! 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