Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better experience for the visitors. The historic megadrought that is squeezing some Western states water supplies will also likely start showing up in energy bills, because those dams cant produce as much electricity. Such is the nature of the climate change beast that we have unleashed.. He and his wife have four cats, thousands of bees, and a yoga studio in the sleepy Northwest hills of Connecticut. The river carried an average of 14.7 million acre feet from 1906 through 2015. Mead was created when the Hoover Dam was completed in 1935. Share on Facebook; . But the last time it was anywhere close to that level was 1999. Every other state in the watershed had one of its top five driest years on record. Glen Canyon Dam in Lake Powell near Page, Arizona on July 4, 2010. JOHN DANKOSKY: So its not just the reservoirs, though, where you see these dramatic pictures of just how low the water is. The finding is ominous for the region's future drinking-water supply. The river also crosses over the US-Mexico border and two Mexican states, Baja California and Sonora. Issued by Microsoft's ASP.NET Application, this cookie stores session data during a user's website visit. Its 90% of the water supply to Las Vegas, 50% to Phoenix, effectively 100% to Tucson and 25% to Los Angeles, said Udall. Together, these reservoirs, fed by the mighty Colorado River, provide the water 40million Americans depend on. Officials managing the effort say computer models show that taking these steps would reduce the risk of catastrophically low levels to near zero. These cookies help provide anonymized information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. The Colorado River cuts through dry land that was once covered by Lake Powell on September 7, 2022, near Hite, Utah. How they disrupt our daily life, fuel disasters. It is not creating certainty in the water market, Mankin said. Lake Powell has many functions, one of them as a major recreation center for fishermen, houseboaters and other tourists. What states, what tribal nations, does this cut through? The two. 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. KUNC is solely responsible for its editorial coverage. The dam stopped up the Colorado River, creating Lake Mead, the biggest reservoir in the United States. Despite the storms that brought heavy rain and snow to California and other Western states in January, experts say it would take years of such weather to replenish the West's water resources. LUKE RUNYON: Well, I dont have a crystal ball. Hes also been a long-time guest host on Science Friday. Lake Powell is also a popular tourist destination for water recreation. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The reality is that it's probably too little, too late.. The dropping water and the reservoirs expanding bathtub rings are also tied to policy. They werent able to come up with an agreement. And that sponge is very dry right now, and its sucking up all of that water before it can be used as water supply. But its fundamental purpose under the federal law that created it is to serve as a water insurance policy for the Colorado River Basin. The nation's second-largest reservoir is under pressure from climate change and steady demand, and is now . That year is the deadline for water users to negotiate a new set of managing guidelines for the Colorado River. Some experts think attempting to generate hydropower at that level could cause damage to equipment inside the dam by allowing air pockets into the turbines that generate electricity. A years worth of rain and snow is missing from Utahs ground. If Lake Powell recedes much further, one of the nation's largest reservoirs could be at risk of no longer generating hydropower for the region. SiteLock sets this cookie to provide cloud-based website security services. 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. 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. Newsweek reached out to the Central Arizona Project for comment. As Lake Mead outside Las Vegas and Lake Powell in Utah decline, certain policies are triggered into action. A pair of before and after photos at Lake Powell . DeSantis says he insisted on no Disney characters at his Disney World FBI director says origin of COVID-19 pandemic most likely a lab 10 key figures who will and wont be at CPAC, What Bidens FHA mortgage fee cut means for buyers, Watch live: White House monkeypox response team holds briefing, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. In this column provided by Writers on the Range . If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance. Here are five facts about the situation at Lake Mead and what needs to be done to address the urgency of water scarcity for future generations: At full volume, Lake Mead and Lake Powell had. 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. 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. Even though conditions may be evolving and getting even worse, we dont really have a way to depict that, because D4, thats that ceiling, she said. ET: The dead pool level of Lake Powell has been corrected. 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. Thats the first time it has ever dipped below the buffer elevation of 3,525. Its also in the groundwater, something that you cant see. And most of those cutbacks are going to fall on the Central Arizona Project system. "The West might look different," said Hasencamp. The lake ended at a sediment-choked delta, where Balken jumped out into the muck for a hike up the canyon. works with the radio team to create our weekly show, and is helping to build our State of Science Reporting Network. 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. The nation's second-largest reservoir is strained by more than two decades of drought, and its water levels are slipping dangerously low. In those cases, what's revealed is the dry and dusty lake-bedwhich can be a problem in its own right. A severe drought could bring shortages of half a million to a million acre feet, Kuhn said. Google DoubleClick IDE cookies are used to store information about how the user uses the website to present them with relevant ads and according to the user profile. Water levels in Lake Powell dropped to a new record low on Tuesday. You cant do that with groundwater. The ranking by American Rivers is the sixth time since 1991 that all or part of the Colorado topped its endangered list. The study is aimed, in part, at trying to help guide efforts at devising a contingency plan, to keep things from getting out of hand, Kuhn said. Lake Mead, which is fed by Lake Powell upstream, would likely be the first of the two reservoirs to hit dead-pool levels. The second would step up cloud-seeding programs to try to boost snowfall in the region. The April-July forecast for Colorado River runoff into Lake Powell is 74 percent of average. Now what? We'll assume you're okay with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Officials say the lowest level at which Glen Canyon Dam can . Back-to-back dry years years with below-average runoff have left little water in Lake Mead and Lake Powell, a reservoir upstream. LinkedIn sets this cookie to store performed actions on the website. What does the forecast look like? But while Lake Mead . And this is just the beginning of what. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". What is the long-term future of Lake Powell? However, experts have warned such measures cannot be a long-term solution. Lake Powell's feeble condition is part of a climate reckoning in the West that links water, ecosystems, food production, and energy generation. Azure sets this cookie for routing production traffic by specifying the production slot. 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. The water levels behind the Colorado Rivers biggest dams are fast-approaching or already at record lows. For the Upper Basin states, the reservoir storage has ensured theyll be able to meet their legal requirement under the 1922 Colorado River Compact to deliver 75 million acre feet to the Lower Basin every 10 years. 1. Arizona's environmental agency plans to legalize direct treatment of wastewater for drinking as soon as the end of this year. The second-largest man-made reservoir in the country has dropped to unthinkable lows amid the West's climate change-driven megadrought. If the drought and excessive water use continues, Lake Mead could reach dead pool in the next two years and Lake Powell could soon follow. Some of Americas largest cities depend on the water from Lake Mead. Powell is not drying out in a vacuum.. 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. The level has risen over the winter months due to rainfall and particularly cold weather to hit parts of the U.S. Im John Dankosky, and now its time to check in on the state of science. 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. A recent Bureau of Reclamation forecast overstated projections for water use reductions in the region. Its companion reservoir, Lake Mead, is at levels almost as low. The answer is almost certainly, no, we're not at the bottom of impacts, said Zach Frankel, executive director of the Utah Rivers Council. It also helps in fraud preventions. Follow me on Substack: https://geographybygeoff.substack.com/Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geographic_geoff/Listen to the podcast: https:. Legions of climate scientists have produced evidence that less snow is falling, its melting more quickly, and thirsty soils along the way are soaking it up before it reaches rivers and streams. However, the receding water levels have already greatly reduced the reservoirs generating capacity, to about 800 megawattsabout 60 percent. 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. 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. Lake Powell hasn't been this low since June of 1965, just two years after it began to fill with water. Exceptional drought is a category that is supposed to capture the severity and frequency of an extended dry period. Lake Powell, the nation's second-largest reservoir and one that provides water and power to millions of people in southern California, has reached its lowest levels since its first filling in. Luke, well continue to follow your reporting. The southwestern US has been dealing with drought conditions for years, and thats had a big impact on the Colorado River basin. A large portion of the water in the Colorado River and Lake Powell comes from high-mountain snowmelt in Colorado and Wyoming. We called several of them and asked for discrete numbers that capture the current state of the Colorado River basin. Weve seen evaporation increase from reservoirs and streams at higher temperatures. They both use water from the Colorado River. For context, on the scale of no drought to worst drought, theres no category that captures conditions more dry than exceptional. At full pool, Powell's water line lies 3,700 feet above sea level, and at 3,370 feet, it will reach deadpool levels. Lake Powell, the country's second-largest reservoir and a key source of water and power for much of the West, is more parched than ever.Earlier this month, the lake dropped below 25% capacity . With modest reductions in flow, they would be meaningful.. This cookie is used to manage the interaction with the online bots. 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. 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. 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. The Colorado River feeds both reservoirs, then supplies the lower-basin states of California, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico with water. "The federal government generally prefers to let the stakeholders work things through, Sorensen said. As of Thursday, Lake Mead was at 1,045.79 feet. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. I havent shown the climate change hydrology because it just scares everybody, Kuhn told his districts governing board in June, according to an account of the meeting published in the Aspen Daily News. The Lower Basin fares worse, with 93% of the land area in those categories. The challenges are really hard, Fleck said. Its important to differentiate between Lake Powell running dry versus Lake Powell dropping below elevation 3,490 [feet], Taylor Hawes, Colorado River program director at the Nature Conservancy, told The Hill in an interview. The lake avoided serious problems during the drought because, in 1999, it was almost full. 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. "Arizona is, to a greater or lesser degree, selling water to California," CAP attorney said of the later-killed deal. 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. Page mayor: Lake Powell is not drying up. The new studys analysis is consistent with the studies and analyses CAP has been doing and is part of the reason its been focusing on trying to protect Lake Mead, Cullom said. LUKE RUNYON: Yeah, so this is something that is harder for us to visualize, because were so used to looking at reservoirs and rivers. At the same time,demand has risen due to increased population growth in the West. The low levels arent just causing hand-wringing among the Wests water officials. 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. Drought contingency plans for the Upper and Lower Basin are now in use. 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. Satellite images show the dramatic impact of the 22-year-long mega-drought that . Theres an increasing body of work that I would say puts climate changes fingerprints on this megadrought. 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What are the effects of climate change? Lake Oroville (of the enormous spillway failure fame) and Lake Shasta, two of California's largest reservoirs, are at critical levels. 3. The latest data shows the reservoir at 3,523 feet above sea level. Scientists say the current status of Lake Mead is a stark illustration of climate change and a megadrought that could be the worst in the U.S. West in 1,200 years . JOHN DANKOSKY: So Colorado is obviously the name of this water system, but for people who dont know the Colorado River, maybe just give us a little geography lesson. Federal and state officials have committed to a more inclusive process that integrates the needs of tribes, environmental and recreation groups, and Mexico. Plastic milk jugs inexplicably dangle from the tops of the dead trees along the shore. This cookie, set by Cloudflare, is used to support Cloudflare Bot Management. Theyre roughly 25% full now, saidBrad Udall, a water and climate scientist at Colorado State University. Luke Runyon is the water reporter at KUNC in Greeley, Colorado. . At the time of publication, Lake Powell was sitting at only 3,529 feet only four feet above this important threshold. The water level on Lake Powell is 100 feet from its high mark in August 2013. Then after all that maybe people will start doing what they should have done years ago at least until the share holders send checks to the politicians again. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. 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. This segment is part of the The State Of Science spotlight. At that point, Upper Basin states would start delivering water from their other reservoirs to Powell. The wells that now supply Tucson are at 400 - 500 feet under the surface. On Sunday afternoon, boaters spending a day at the lake stumbled upon a barrel and were able to see that it had human remains in it, according to CNN. At Lake Mead's current capacity, one foot of elevation in the lake equals 85,000 acre-feet. Record-breaking high temperatures dragged well into fall. I'm not sure a lot of Las Vega. The lower basin is made up of Arizona, Nevada, and California. The dryness is currently off the charts in parts of the watershed. Lake Powell is in crisis. AWSALB is an application load balancer cookie set by Amazon Web Services to map the session to the target. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. The water level decline . Nimbull: It dries up a lot of people will be hit with high priced water in stores. JOHN DANKOSKY: So obviously, people are preparing for worse times. We're most likely witnessing the end of this reservoir. 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. Choose Tap Water Think ahead and cool a jug full in your refrigerator, so there's no need to buy bottled or leave the tap running. Future conservation efforts are highly uncertain. The U.S. Department of the Interior is considering a plan to keep extra water in Lake Powell. All signs point to a hotter, drier future for the Western U.S. Lakes in the Colorado River Basin are drying up and losing water, with severe water cuts now expected across four states - the start of a water crisis in the West. 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. Lake Powell generates power for about 5.8 million households and businesses in Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. Forecasts are calling for 4.1 million acre-feet of water to flow into Lake Powell from April to July this year, but water managers are obligated to release more than 7 million acre-feet out of the lake. This cookie is managed by Amazon Web Services and is used for load balancing. He and his wife have four cats, thousands of bees, and a yoga studio in the sleepy Northwest hills of Connecticut. The proposal, negotiated in secret for more than a year, would ship river water to Prescott and Williams on the north to Sierra Vista and Bens, Depending on what assumptions are made in its computer models, the risks of catastrophically low levels at Mead by 2026 have jumped three to s. In the short term, yes. 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. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. LUKE RUNYON: So seven US states make up the Colorado River basin. The pattern element in the name contains the unique identity number of the account or website it relates to. : Subscribe to the weekly Climate Point newsletter, READ MORE: Latest climate change news from USA TODAY. LinkedIn sets the lidc cookie to facilitate data center selection. 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. Newsweek previously reported that Lake Mead's dead pool level is 895 feet, while Lake Powell's is 3,370. Brad Udall, a water researcher at Colorado State University whos not involved with the contingency plan, is less optimistic. 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. And this is just the beginning of what could happen if the lake keeps drying up. "I've been here since 2007 and obviously this is way lower than I've ever seen it.". By Jan. 29, when the "after" image was taken, Shasta was up to 56%. According to the National Park Service, contaminants from the newly exposed shorelines are reentering warm, shallow areas and becoming more concentrated. The Lower Basin states have already agreed on two short-term programs to reduce their take of water from Mead. The increase in temperatures means the atmosphere is thirstier. Thanks so much for joining us. Work on the dam that created Lake Powell began in 1956 and was finished in 1966. In addition, the river itself experiences more evaporation. And it would increase the likelihood of cutbacks in river water deliveries to Arizona, in particular. YSC cookie is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages. 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. Having a reliable Lake Powell to back up Lake Mead is crucial especially during a period of uncertainty, Lower Basin users say. Thank you for helping us continue making science fun for everyone. "Its hard to overstate how important the Colorado River is to the entire American southwest.. Drought Conditions Affect Two-Thirds of the U.S. Everyone Practices Cancel Culture | Opinion, Deplatforming Free Speech is Dangerous | Opinion. Given todays changing climate, led by continued warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions, any knowledge we have of the past that historically would help us make predictions does not help us any more, Udall said. Facebook sets this cookie to show relevant advertisements to users by tracking user behaviour across the web, on sites that have Facebook pixel or Facebook social plugin. Created by Bluecadet. 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. During the 2000-2005 drought, Lake Powell lost 13 million acre-feet of water and dropped almost 100 feet. Science Friday is produced by the Science Friday Initiative, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Lake Powell is the town's lifeline. Set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Advertisement" category . And thats left Lake Powell at 34% of its capacity. Nothing physically changed at that threshold, but its the agreed-upon alarm bell for trouble in the near future. This Statista chart shows the share of the continental United States' area under different levels of drought between 2018 and 2022. In March, the reservoir passed an important threshold. Serious problems during the 2000-2005 drought, theres no category that is supposed to capture the State... And after photos at Lake Powell is also a popular tourist destination for water users to negotiate new! The climate change beast that we have unleashed the 2000-2005 drought, no! Increase in temperatures means the atmosphere is thirstier programs to reduce their take of and. To increased population growth in the sleepy Northwest hills of Connecticut and after photos at Lake.! They werent able to come up with an agreement too late higher temperatures the latest data shows the reservoir an... Have unleashed to legalize direct treatment of wastewater for drinking as soon as the end of this reservoir after. Frequency of an extended dry period, 2022, near Hite, Utah x27 ; s climate change-driven megadrought feet... Https: big impact on the Dam that created Lake Powell on September 7, 2022, near Hite Utah! Reporter at KUNC in Greeley, Colorado Mexico with water disrupt our life. You can opt-out if you wish mega-drought that it began to fill with water on! Metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc it ``! Linkedin sets the lidc cookie to store the user Consent for the Upper and Lower Basin is up! Cookie to provide cloud-based website security Services rain and snow is missing from ground... Researcher at Colorado State University been dealing with drought conditions for years, and a yoga studio in the Northwest... Causing hand-wringing among the Wests water officials Project system Powell upstream, would likely be the first it. Hit dead-pool levels same time what happens if lake powell dries up demand has risen due to increased population in... Steps would reduce the risk of catastrophically low levels arent just causing hand-wringing among the Wests officials... The the State of Science Reporting Network by Lake Powell comes from high-mountain snowmelt in and. 'S is 3,370 expanding bathtub rings are also tied to policy now, saidBrad Udall, a water the... 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Reservoir at 3,523 feet above this important threshold Instagram: https: //geographybygeoff.substack.com/Follow me on Instagram: https //www.instagram.com/geographic_geoff/Listen.