Tag Archive for: Lake Powell

Sinema’s Last-Minute Push on Democrats’ Climate Bill Added $4 Billion to Combat Western Drought

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Jennifer Haberkorn and Ian James

When Sen. Joe Manchin III and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer landed a surprise agreement on a healthcare, climate and tax bill last month, all but one Senate Democrat accepted the deal rather than risk collapse with further negotiation.

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, the inscrutable Arizona Democrat who has at times voted against her party’s demands, staked her vote on two changes. Most attention focused on her push to eliminate a proposed tax on wealthy investors.

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Senators Add $4 Billion for Colorado River Drought Relief Into Inflation Reduction Act

/in , , /by /Desert Sunby Janet Wilson

The massive climate and healthcare package that passed Sunday in the Senate includes $4 billion to help shore up the rapidly dwindling Colorado River and its massive reservoirs.

California officials who are pushing to meet an August deadline for huge water savings in Lake Mead and Lake Powell praised the bill’s passage.

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UN Warns Two Largest US Water Reservoirs at ‘Dangerously Low Levels’

/in , , /by /The Hillby Sharon Udasin

The United Nations warned on Tuesday that the two biggest water reservoirs in the United States have dwindled to “dangerously low levels” due to the impacts of climate change.

The situation has become so severe that these reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, are on the verge of reaching “dead pool status” — the point at which water levels drop so low that downstream flow ceases, according to the U.N. Environment Program.

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Drought and Old Pipes Could Slow Colorado River to a Trickle

/in , /by /E&E Newsby Jennifer Yachnin

In their pleas to Western states to cut back on water use from the Colorado River Basin, federal officials are keenly focused on keeping Lake Powell’s elevation at 3,490 feet — the minimum needed to keep hydropower humming at Glen Canyon Dam.

But if federal efforts can’t stop the reservoir from shrinking to new lows — its elevation is 3,536 feet as of Monday — the lights going out might not even be the worst problem.

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Arizona’s Cities May See ‘Huge’ Water Cutbacks Soon. Here’s What That Means for Valley Residents

/in , , /by /12 Newsby Joe Dana

This month will be a moment of truth for Arizona cities.

The Federal Bureau of Reclamation is scheduled to release its “24-month study” that announces how much water Lake Powell and Lake Mead will release in 2023.

Meanwhile, seven western states must also present a plan to dramatically cut 2-4 million acre-feet of water. According to federal records, that amounts to as much as 25% of water allocated to the states.

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Opinion: A Water Crisis is Here, the West Must Act Aggressively, Collectively

/in , , /by /The Denver Post

A billboard in St. George urges residents to use less water — “Utah is in a drought.”

Other nearby billboards in Washington County advertise one of the largest outdoor swimming pools in the world and a soon-to-arrive luxury surfing community with three artificial lakes.

It certainly doesn’t feel like this arid city – hosting the nearby headwaters for two important tributaries to the Colorado River — is in a drought.

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Drought Driving Tough Talks on Water Cuts

/in , , /by /Las Vegas Review-Journal by Colton Lochhead

Nevada and two of its neighboring southwestern states are still working on ways to drastically cut water use from the Colorado River as a deadline set by the federal government to address the worsening conditions along the river quickly approaches.

John Entsminger, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, said his organization is still at the table with the other so-called lower basin states of California and Arizona as they work to respond to a call from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to propose unprecedented cuts in water use along the river in order to protect critical power and water delivery infrastructure at lakes Mead and Powell.

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Opinion: Saving the Colorado River Requires Cooperation From All Parties in West

/in , , /by /Las Vegas Sun

These days, when we talk about water, we aren’t talking about “drought” — we’re talking about a new and enduring climate scenario. Despite fluke flooding like the Las Vegas Valley experienced Thursday night, we must act accordingly.

There is simply not enough water in the West to sustain the level of water consumption we currently demand. And there likely won’t be. Ever.

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The West’s Most Important Water Supply is Drying Up. Soon, Life for 40 Million People Who Depend on the Colorado River Will Change.

/in , , /by /The Denver Postby Conrad Swanson

White sandstone cliffs create a ring around Lake Powell in contrast to the honey- and red-colored desert rock nearby. Evidence that water once, not all that long ago, filled America’s second-largest reservoir.

Fed by the Colorado River, Lake Powell, in south-central Utah, has seen wet years and dry years over the past two decades. Mostly dry years.

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Opinion: What Will Happen if Lake Mead Dries Up? Look to the Salton Sea

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Richard Thomas

Recently, historic record-low water volume in Lake Mead and Lake Powell has been headline news. While the trend of dropping water levels at two of the nation’s largest water reservoirs has been widely recognized for years (perhaps decades), a discussion about what it truly means for those who rely on its source for water and electricity downstream is rarely heard.

Lake Mead’s water level continues to fall to historic lows, bringing the reservoir less than 150 feet away from “dead pool” — so low that water cannot flow downstream from the dam.

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