Drought? Lake Powell has gone down 16 ft. this year. What happens if it reaches the point of no return?

Revelation 16:9 “They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.”

Important Takeaways:

  • What happens if Lake Powell runs out of water?
  • The lake was just under 24 percent full as of last week, and had lost 16 feet in the last year. Its depth level currently stands at around 3,530 feet.
  • How much power does the lake generate?
    • Northern Arizona’s Glen Canyon Dam, which creates the lake, has a full capacity of 1,320 megawatts, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. However, the receding water levels have already greatly reduced the reservoir’s generating capacity, to about 800 megawatts—about 60 percent.
  • How many people rely on it?
    • Lake Powell generates power for about 5.8 million households and businesses in Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
  • What’s the point of no return?
    • “We know that we’ll lose hydropower, and they won’t be able to make hydropower below 3,490,”
    • If the lake’s levels drop below 3,490, Hawes added, the Bureau of Reclamation will have to run water through a series of river outlet tubes, the lowest delivery mechanism in the lake, for the first time since the 1980s, and bureau officials “don’t actually know if they can handle that much water,”
  • The Glen Canyon Institute has advocated for draining Lake Powell, both to replenish Lake Mead and to restore Glen Canyon, which was flooded to create Lake Powell.

Read the original article by clicking here.

Lake Powell currently holding less than 1/4 of its capacity. Today’s decision to delay release water to downstream states is unprecedented

Leviticus 26:18-20 “And if in spite of this you will not listen to me, then I will discipline you again sevenfold for your sins, and I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. And your strength shall be spent in vain, for your land shall not yield its increase, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit.

Important Takeaways:

  • Officials take emergency measures to ease drought crisis at low Lake Powell
  • Located on the Utah-Arizona border, Lake Powell is currently at an all-time low surface elevation of 3,522 feet since it was filled in the 1960s — holding less than one-fourth of its full capacity
  • The lowest point at which Glen Canyon Dam can generate hydropower is 3,490 feet, its “minimum power pool”
  • The Bureau of Reclamation said Tuesday that it will delay the planned release of water from the Colorado River reservoir of Lake Powell to downstream states (Arizona, California and Nevada) by holding back nearly 480,000 acre-feet of water. Officials are hoping that withholding the water will boost the reservoir for an additional 12 months.
  • “Today’s decision reflects the truly unprecedented challenges facing the Colorado River Basin and will provide operational certainty for the next year,”

Read the original article by clicking here.

Feds warn potential water shut off if water level continues to drop

Leviticus 26:18-20 “And if in spite of this you will not listen to me, then I will discipline you again sevenfold for your sins, and I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. And your strength shall be spent in vain, for your land shall not yield its increase, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit.

Important Takeaways:

  • Feds could limit water flow to Arizona, other western states
  • Concern focuses on continually falling water level in Lake Powell, a reservoir that supplies millions with water and hydroelectricity
  • Tanya Trujillo, Assistant Secretary for Water and Science for the U.S. Department of the Interior warned, Should the water level drop below 3,490 feet that the shortage would affect both water flow downriver and power generation at the large power facility. Currently, water levels sit at 3,522 and continue to fall
  • She added that a nearby Arizona city and part of the Navajo Nation would lose drinking water should Lake Powell’s water level be allowed to fall below the threshold.

Read the original article by clicking here.