Tag Archive for: Lake Powell

Snow Readings Give Reprieve to Colorado River Shortage

/in , , /by /The Desert Reviewby Betty Miller

“It’s snowing!” is how Imperial Irrigation District Water Manager Tina Shields began her hydrology report at the March 21 regular meeting. The water manager’s monthly reports have taken a turn to the positive after years of dire Lake Mead elevation readings.

Although Central California irrigates with water from different sources other than the Colorado River, the Valley’s sole source of water, Shields reported the continuous atmospheric rivers have been devastating to the Central Valley farmland with reports of flooding and washing out of ground.

“Every drought is followed by a flood,” she said. “They have had 250% above average of rain, the photos of two-story houses buried in snow and ski lifts unusable because they are covered in snow are crazy. They are actually talking about Fourth of July skiing and that fields will stay flooded for months. It is all time record breaking.”

At Its Lowest Point in History, Lake Powell Sees First Growth in Months

/in , , /by /KPNX TVby Hunter Bassler

Nearly 50 years after being filled, Lake Powell recently reached its lowest point.

Since then, the lake’s seasonal uptrend in water levels has begun.

Lake Powell hit a new low of 3520.46 feet on March 13, data from the Bureau of Reclamation shows.

However, the following eight days all saw more water flow into the lake than out of it, resulting in just under half a foot of rise in water levels. The increase is the first sustained gains the lake has seen since May of last year.

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Snowpack Rising: Good Water News for Now, but Lake Mead Unlikely to See a Difference

/in , , /by /8 News Nowby Greg Haas

Snow is forecast every day this week in the heart of the Colorado Rockies, and snowpack levels have climbed to nearly 150% as warmer spring temperatures near.

It could be the winter we remember as one of the bright spots in a drought that defined the past two decades in the Colorado River Basin.

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Scientists: Largest US Reservoirs Moving in Right Direction

/in , , /by /ABC Newsby Susan Montoya Bryan

Parts of California are under water, the Rocky Mountains are bracing for more snow, flood warnings are in place in Nevada, and water is being released from some Arizona reservoirs to make room for an expected bountiful spring runoff.

All the moisture has helped alleviate dry conditions in many parts of the western U.S. Even major reservoirs on the Colorado River are trending in the right direction.

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Persistent Drought and Overdevelopment Cause Record Low Water Levels for Tens of Millions

/in , , /by /PBS Newshourby Stephanie Sy

Despite a rainy and snowy winter out west, Lake Powell and Lake Mead, the reservoirs that provide water for 40 million Americans, are at record low levels due to the ongoing megadrought. Arizona is set to lose over 20% of its Colorado River water allotment this year alone. As Stephanie Sy reports, that’s leaving communities across the state scrambling to find alternatives.

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More Moisture is Headed to Utah, the West. Will It Help Lake Powell?

/in , /by /Deseret Newsby Amy Joi O’Donoghue

Lake Powell is currently close to 180 feet below full pool and coming off a summer last year where several boat ramps were closed and owners were advised to retrieve their houseboats from the docks.

Releases from a couple of upstream reservoirs, including Flaming Gorge, were made last summer to help the nation’s second largest reservoir and its Glen Canyon Dam, which provides power generation to Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and Nebraska.

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Opinion: The West’s Weather Whiplash Should Not Influence Long-Term Water Management

/in , , /by /The Hillby Thomas Piechota

There’s a water contradiction in the West with serious long-term water scarcity in low reservoirs and depleting groundwater tables, while California is in the middle of an extremely wet and snowy winter. As water levels in dangerously depleted Lake Mead and Lake Powell drop to record lows, California has experienced one of the wettest winters on record, with a statewide snowpack that’s almost 200 percent of normal for this time of year and a flooding risks from rain and snow events in March.

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Feds Suspend Measures That Were Meant to Boost Water Levels at Drought-Stricken Lake Powell

/in , /by

Starting Tuesday, the US Bureau of Reclamation will suspend extra water releases from Utah’s Flaming Gorge reservoir — emergency measures that had served to help stabilize the plummeting water levels downstream at Lake Powell, the nation’s second largest reservoir.

Federal officials began releasing extra water from Flaming Gorge in 2021 to boost Lake Powell’s level and buy its surrounding communities more time to plan for the likelihood the reservoir will eventually drop too low for the Glen Canyon Dam to generate hydropower.

Rockies’ Snowy Winter May Not Mean Enough Runoff to Replenish the Colorado

/in , /by /Cronkite Newsby Alex Hager

Recent data show a snowy start to 2023 for the Colorado River basin, with heavy winter precipitation in the Rocky Mountains projected to boost spring spring runoff into Lake Powell to 117% of an average year’s flows.

But scientists say that while this winter’s snow may provide a temporary boost to major reservoirs, it will not provide enough water to fix the Southwest’s long-term supply-demand imbalance, as the beleaguered river continues to grapple with climate change and steady demand.

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Proposed Pause on Reservoir Releases Prompts Lower Basin States to Respond

/in , , /by /KUNCby Alex Hager

The three states that comprise the Colorado River’s Lower Basin – Arizona, California and Nevada – are weighing in on a proposal to pause some water releases from Flaming Gorge Reservoir in an effort to prop up Lake Powell.

Those states essentially agreed with the idea of suspending water releases, but said water managers should wait a few months to see the full effects of spring runoff, and leave the door open for additional releases if warranted. They also stressed the need for input from all of the states which use water from the Colorado River.

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