SALT LAKE CITY — The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has ordered a release of up to one million acre feet of water from Flaming Gorge to help prop up Lake Powell and keep the Colorado River system afloat.
Faced with a horrible water year including the lowest snowpack on record, the entire Colorado River storage system is now at 36% capacity. Because of that, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation says it must take "immediate action." to keep water and power generating for millions across the American West.
FOX 13 News reported on Wednesday the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation was considering anywhere from 660,000 to one million acre-feet — as much as a third of Flaming Gorge's capacity. Currently, Flaming Gorge is 83% full with about 3.1 million acre feet of water. It represents a 35-foot drop in elevation for Flaming Gorge. Such a move would impact businesses in remote Daggett County, a recreation hotspot in Utah.
On Friday, Reclamation officials announced they would add 2.48 million acre-feet of water to Lake Powell, primarily from taking up to a million acre-feet from Flaming Gorge. They would then be keeping 1.48 million acre-feet in Lake Powell by not releasing it to Lake Mead in Nevada. Altogether, that will raise Lake Powell about 54 feet, keeping it able to provide water and generate power for nearby states.
U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum gave the bad news to the governors of the seven states along the Colorado River.
"I am grateful for the Governors and their teams working diligently to find a solution to the complex challenges created by these unprecedented drought conditions which require immediate action," he said in a statement. "Interior and Reclamation continue to coordinate with the basin states, tribes, Mexico and basin stakeholders as we make the decisions necessary to operate and protect the system."
Nearby reservoirs — Blue Mesa and Navajo — will not see releases at this time, due to their low water levels and poor forecasted inflows, Reclamation officials said.
The decision has a cascading effect. Lake Mead would see a 40% reduction to hydropower production, Reclamation officials said. That means water cuts to Lower Basin states like Nevada, Arizona and California.
Upper Basin states — including Utah — signaled they were reluctantly supportive of the decision.
"The Upper Division State governors recently warned that current conditions are among the most severe on record, underscoring the need for immediate, coordinated action within limited available water supplies. The Upper Division States are taking unprecedented action to protect critical elevations at Lake Powell in the face of the dire conditions this year," the Upper Colorado River Commission, which includes Utah's negotiators on the Colorado River, said in a statement Friday.
"On top of implementing significant mandatory and uncompensated reductions through each state’s strict regulation of all water rights, each Upper Division State is also immediately implementing voluntary conservation and efficiency measures. In addition, through an agreement between the Upper Division States and Reclamation, the Upper Division States are planning releases from Flaming Gorge Reservoir in Utah and Wyoming to support Lake Powell. Under that agreement, any water released from Flaming Gorge will be fully recovered once the release concludes and as hydrologic conditions improve."
The states have been locked in tense negotiations over agreements managing the river that expire later this year. Despite repeated efforts and deadlines to strike a deal, they have yet to come to any kind of agreement. Recently, states like Arizona and Utah have made maneuvers to signal pending litigation.
The Colorado River supplies water to more than 40 million across the West, including a significant amount pumped into the Wasatch Front through the Central Utah Project.
This article is published through the Colorado River Collaborative, a solutions journalism initiative supported by the Janet Quinney Lawson Institute for Land, Water, and Air at Utah State University. See all of our stories about how Utahns are impacted by the Colorado River at greatsaltlakenews.org/coloradoriver
