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U.S. Slashes Lake Powell Releases, Taps Flaming Gorge to Protect Hydropower

The emergency shift seeks to keep Glen Canyon Dam generating power through a year of record‑low runoff.

FILE - Low water levels at Wahweap Bay at Lake Powell, along the Upper Colorado River Basin are shown, June 9, 2021, at the Utah and Arizona border at Wahweap, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
FILE - A sign cautioning fluctuating water levels is displayed at Firehole Canyon, on the far northeastern shore of Flaming Gorge Reservoir, Friday, Aug. 5, 2022, in Wyoming. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
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FILE - Bathtub rings show how low Lake Powell levels have declines, June 8, 2022, in Page, Ariz. (AP Photo/Brittany Peterson, File)

Overview

  • Interior, which outlined the plan Friday, will cut Lake Powell releases to the legal minimum of 6 million acre‑feet and move 660,000 to 1,000,000 acre‑feet from Flaming Gorge to bolster the reservoir.
  • Officials project the actions could raise Lake Powell about 54 feet and keep it above the 3,500‑foot power threshold through April 2027, with a final decision expected within days.
  • The Upper Colorado River Commission has approved the Flaming Gorge release, and federal estimates show the reservoir could drop about 35 feet to roughly 59% full over the next year.
  • Reducing outflows from Powell will speed the decline at Lake Mead and could cut Hoover Dam’s power generation by up to about 40% as soon as this fall, according to Reclamation.
  • Park managers warn Lake Powell boaters about newly exposed shorelines and submerged hazards, and river scientists urge timing the added Green River flows to boost endangered fish during spring spawning.