Lake Powell

Six of the seven states that use water from the Colorado River proposed a way for the federal government to cut back on water use and protect dropping water levels in Lake Mead and Lake Powell.

As drought and steady demand shrink the Colorado River and Lake Powell, Glen Canyon Dam faces an existential threat. It's a rare example of the Southwest's water crisis made visible.

The Upper Colorado River Commission – comprised of Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico – is set to announce details of an extended “System Conservation Pilot Program” through which water users could be paid to cut back on their use.

In Page, Arizona, a shrinking Lake Powell is causing problems for the local water utility. A short-term fix is underway, but Page says it needs more money for a backup.

The Bureau of Reclamation filed a Notice of Intent to propose changes to the amount of water released from Lake Powell and Lake Mead.

Since Glen Canyon Dam was commissioned in 1964 and it first began filling, Lake Powell has never been like it is right now, at just 27% of its capacity. It’s threatening to dip below the minimum elevation needed to produce hydropower within the next year. A string of dry winters could push it to dead pool status.

As water levels in Lake Powell keep dropping, activists say Glen Canyon Dam is in need of upgrades to its plumbing so it can keep sending water downstream.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced two measures today to boost water levels in Lake Powell, keeping them high enough to continue generating hydropower at the Glen Canyon Dam. Both moves are being framed as painful but necessary band-aids.One measure will send water from Flaming Gorge Reservoir to help refill Lake Powell. About 500,000 acre-feet of water will be released from Flaming Gorge Reservoir, which straddles the border between Wyoming and Utah. Another measure will reduce the amount of water sent downstream, withholding supplies from Lake Mead, a reservoir that provides storage for California, Arizona and Nevada.

A new plan will release water from Flaming Gorge Reservoir, a measure designed to boost dropping levels in Lake Powell. The releases come as a response to record lows, which are on course to drop too low to generate hydropower at the Glen Canyon dam. The Drought Response Operations Plan brings together the four states of the upper Colorado River basin – Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico – and the federal government.

Lake Powell is is strained by more than two decades of drought, and its water levels are dipping dangerously low. The reservoir passed an important threshold. Water levels went below 3,525 feet – the last major milestone before a threat to hydropower generation at the Glen Canyon Dam. What's next for the nation's second-largest reservoir?