The natural-color images above show Lake Powell in the late summer season of 2017 and 2021, as observed by the Operational Land Imager on Landsat 8. Due to the fact that it represents the greatest water level (3,630.76 feet) from the past years, the September 2017 image was picked. The line plot below programs water levels given that 1999, when Lake Powell approached 94 percent capacity.
1999– 2021
Downstream in the Colorado River water management system, Lake Mead is filled to simply 35 percent of capacity. More than 94 percent of the land area across 9 western states is now affected by some level of drought, according to the September 23 report from the U.S. Drought Monitor.
In an announcement on September 22, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) discussed that updated hydrological models for the next five years “reveal continued elevated threat of Lake Powell and Lake Mead reaching critically-low elevations as a result of the historic drought and low-runoff conditions in the Colorado River Basin. At Lake Powell, the projections indicate the potential of falling below minimum power swimming pool as early as July 2022 should very dry hydrology continue into next year.” Minimum power swimming pool describes an elevation– 3,490 feet– that water levels need to stay above to keep the dams hydropower turbines working correctly.
With the entire Lower Colorado River water storage system at 39 percent of capability, the Bureau of Reclamation just recently announced that water allocations in the U.S. Southwest would be cut over the next year. “Given ongoing historic drought and low runoff conditions in the Colorado River Basin, downstream releases from Glen Canyon Dam and Hoover Dam will be reduced in 2022 due to decreasing reservoir levels,” the USBR statement stated. “In the Lower Basin the decreases represent the first “lack” statement– demonstrating the seriousness of the dry spell and low tank conditions.”
In July 2021, water levels on the lake fell to the least expensive point considering that 1969 and have actually continued dropping. The line plot below shows water levels because 1999, when Lake Powell approached 94 percent capacity.
With the entire Lower Colorado River water storage system at 39 percent of capability, the Bureau of Reclamation just recently revealed that water allocations in the U.S. Southwest would be cut over the next year. (For a year-by-year view, see the Earth Observatory function World of Change: Water Level in Lake Powell.).
In a report and op-ed launched on September 22, members of a NOAA Drought Task Force provided some context for the low water levels throughout the area.
Springtime generally marks the least expensive water levels prior to mountaintop snow begins to melt and run down into the watershed. (For a year-by-year view, see the Earth Observatory feature World of Change: Water Level in Lake Powell.).
The Colorado River basin is handled to supply water to countless people– most significantly the cities of San Diego, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Los Angeles– and 4 to 5 million acres of farmland in the U.S. and Mexico. Water is allotted through laws like the 1922 Colorado River Compact and by a recent drought contingency plan revealed in 2019.
In a report and op-ed released on September 22, members of a NOAA Drought Task Force offered some context for the low water levels throughout the area. “Successive dry winter in 2019-2020 and 2020-2021, together with a failed 2020 summer season southwestern monsoon, led precipitation totals considering that January 2020 to be the most affordable on record considering that at least 1895 over the entirety of the Southwest. At the exact same time, temperature levels throughout the 6 states thought about in the report (Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah) were at their third highest on record. Together, the remarkably low rainfall and warm temperatures lowered snowpack and increased evaporation of soil moisture, leading to a consistent and widespread dry spell over the majority of the American West.”.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin, utilizing Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey and lake elevation information from the Bureau of Reclamation.
August 27, 2021
September 1, 2017
Water levels at Glen Canyon Dam have actually been up to their lowest level considering that 1969 and are still dropping.
As North America approaches the end of the 2021 water year, the 2 biggest reservoirs in the United States stand at their lowest levels considering that they were very first filled. After 2 years of extreme dry spell and twenty years of long-lasting drought in the American Southwest, government water managers have been required to reassess how materials will be portioned out in the 2022 water year.
Straddling the border of southeastern Utah and northeastern Arizona, Lake Powell is the second largest tank by capacity in the United States. In July 2021, water levels on the lake was up to the lowest point since 1969 and have continued dropping. As of September 20, 2021, the water elevation at Glen Canyon Dam was 3,546.93 feet, more than 153 feet below “complete pool” (elevation 3,700 feet). The lake held just 30 percent of its capacity. To compensate, federal supervisors began launching water from upstream reservoirs to help keep Lake Powell from dropping listed below a limit that threatens hydropower equipment at the dam.
