Overview
- Interior announced emergency operations to cut releases from Lake Powell to the legal minimum of 6 million acre-feet through October after projections showed the reservoir could dip below 3,500 feet by midsummer without action.
- Reclamation ordered up to one-third of Flaming Gorge’s storage to flow to Lake Powell over the next year, a drawdown of about 35 feet that the agency says will hurt recreation as the reservoir drops from 83% full to about 59%.
- The measures would add roughly 2.48 million acre-feet to Lake Powell by pairing Flaming Gorge releases with water held back from downstream deliveries, which Reclamation estimates could lift the reservoir about 54 feet if weather cooperates.
- Reduced outflows from Powell will speed the decline of Lake Mead and could trim Hoover Dam’s hydropower capacity by up to an additional 40% as early as this fall, according to Reclamation.
- Interior said Secretary Doug Burgum met with the seven basin governors, the Upper Colorado River Commission plans a Tuesday review, and the department expects to finalize the emergency plan next week, with the commission noting an agreement to refill Flaming Gorge’s releases over time.