Water levels in Lake Powell hit a record low on Tuesday. The second-largest reservoir in the United States has been affected by climate change and steady demand, and is now at its lowest level since it was first filled in the 1960s.

Water levels have dropped to 3,522.16 feet above sea level, just below the previous record set in April 2022. The reservoir is currently about 22% full and is expected to continue declining until around May when the snow on the mountains melts. plunge into the creek It flows downstream to Powell.

The Colorado River flows through Powell, which straddles the Utah-Arizona border. Rising temperatures and unusually dry conditions have cut off the river’s supply, and his seven states that use the river’s water are struggling to reduce demand. This imbalance has wreaked havoc on the reliability of water supplies for 40 million people and threatens the hydroelectric capacity of the Glen Canyon Dam, which blocks Lake Powell.

Even if it snows or rains covered the west This winter, climate scientists said the severity of the 23-year long drought was due to a year-long rainy season. hardly enough A big boost for Lake Powell.

Their falling water level is caused a crisis For the Bureau of Reclamation, the federal agency that manages the largest dam in the West, including the Glen Canyon Dam and the hydroelectric turbines within it. At a height of 3,490 feet, called the “minimum power pool,” reclamation says he may not be able to generate enough hydropower for 5 million people in seven states. At 3,370 feet, the reservoir hits a “dead pool”, at which point gravity prevents water from passing through the dam.

In the smallest power pools, water falls below the intake that draws water into the hydroelectric turbines, and air pockets can enter the equipment. This can cause small bursts of air, part of a process called ‘cavitation’, that can damage the turbine.

In response, the federal government rushed to support the reservoirs, resulting in a patchwork of water conservation agreements inadequate to prevent reservoir decline. started emergency water discharge. Upstream Powell Efforts to protect the infrastructure of the Glen Canyon Dam. These releases continued in 2022. This winter, recycling is reducing the amount of water released from Lake Powell as part of existing drought response agreements. These reductions will raise water levels by about 10 feet between December and April.

Eric Balken, executive director of the Glen Canyon Institute, an environmental advocacy group, said Mr. Powell would likely be “well below” the smallest power pool to date, if not. . emergency release.

“I think decision makers are trying hard to support Lake Powell because they really fear infrastructure problems when the dam operates under the power pool,” Balken said. Told. “That’s the result. I don’t think it’s necessarily all hydropower. The ability of dams to actually release water at low levels is problematic and we want to avoid that at all costs.”

Balken and other activists sounded the alarm Water levels reach about 3,430 feet. At that point, water was below the normal intake and could only flow through the dam via a rarely used backup pipe near the bottom of the dam. Upper Colorado states have a legal obligation to send a certain amount of water downstream each year.

Known as “river exit works”, these back-up tubes were originally intended to carry water through in fail-safe or high-flow years, and were designed to carry the legally required amount of water from one side to the other. not wide enough.

With these threats on the horizon, the federal government has initiated a process to reduce the amount of water released from Lake Powell in 2023 and 2024. Offer suggestions on how to spread the pain of reduction.

In a limited but rare show of solidarity, six states signed the contract This will save 1.5 million acre feet of water each year over the next two years. This amount of water is about the same as the amount of water lost to evaporation in Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States, and to the leaky infrastructure of the Lower Basins of California, Arizona, and Nevada.

The proposed total is less than 2-4 million acre-feet, which said Glen Canyon Dam should avoid further problems. California has announced its own proposal to save less water than six states agreed.

The stark reality of shrinking supply and deadlock between those responsible for reducing demand has prompted activists to call for Lake Powell to be phased out. At the upper reaches of Lake Powell, it’s already gone down like this That the water returned to a stream like a river. As water is drawn from the once-filled canyons, plants and animals are returning to parts of Glen Canyon that have been submerged for decades.

Balken said it’s time for Colorado River users to imagine a future without the Glen Canyon Dam.

“I think it would be silly not to study the idea of ​​at least completely phasing out that reservoir, because we’re getting more and more likely to end up in the Deadpool scenario,” Balken said.

This story is part of our ongoing coverage of the Colorado River produced by KUNC in Colorado and supported by The Walton Family Foundation. KUNC takes full responsibility for its editorial coverage.