Lake Powell drops to lowest level in reservoir’s history

Lake Powell, the country’s 2nd largest reservoir, reached its lowest h2o level connected grounds this weekend, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

The bureau’s website showed that the water successful Northern Arizona and Southern Utah connected Friday had dropped to 3,555.09 feet, conscionable beneath the erstwhile h2o elevation debased acceptable successful April 2005 astatine 3,555.1 feet.

The water stood astatine 3,554.9 feet arsenic of Saturday, according to the bureau.

Becki Bryant, a bureau spokeswoman successful the Upper Colorado Basin, antecedently told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that smaller snowpack, hotter temperatures, little precipitation and adust soils soaking up runoff each contributed to little h2o flowing into the Colorado River system.

In the archetypal six months of the year, Lake Powell received 2.5 cardinal acre-feet little h2o than was expected, she said.

The Bureau of Reclamation said this period that further h2o from upstream reservoirs volition beryllium released this twelvemonth to prop up Lake Powell.

Lake level diminution volition apt proceed until runoff play begins adjacent year. Bryant said the bureau volition proceed moving with Upper Basin states connected a drought effect operations plan.

Federal officials person said the further h2o being released into Lake Powell this twelvemonth volition not impact however overmuch h2o is released downstream to Lake Mead, which is nearing its archetypal federally declared h2o shortage. A shortage declaration volition pb to cuts successful Nevada’s allocation adjacent twelvemonth of Colorado River water.

Last month, Lake Mead broke its erstwhile grounds debased elevation of 1,071.61 feet, and h2o levels person kept declining. That’s expected to proceed until astatine slightest November, erstwhile cultivation request for h2o decreases, according to Patti Aaron, the Bureau of Reclamation spokeswoman for the Lower Colorado Basin.

Bronson Mack, spokesperson for the Southern Nevada Water Authority, has said that Lake Mead and Lake Powell’s debased h2o levels reaffirm the request to absorption connected conservation.

Contact Blake Apgar astatine bapgar@reviewjournal.com oregon 702-387-5298. Follow @blakeapgar connected Twitter. Review-Journal unit writer Jonah Dylan contributed to this report.