As Lake Powell shrinks, new questions surface about its future
… Lake Mead’s own decline threatens to upend a vast irrigated agricultural empire in Southern California and southwestern Arizona, and to restrict or eventually cut off a significant source of hydroelectricity and household water for the urban Southwest. Powell once seemed Mead’s failsafe backup, a reservoir that, in a wet string of years, could accumulate far more than what the river delivers in a single year. During dry spells, it could pour its excess through Grand Canyon and into Mead, supplying users downstream. Now the excess was gone. … If the snows that melt to replenish the reservoir are lower than expected this winter, the dam’s managers warn, it’s possible that water will dip below Glen Canyon Dam’s hydropower intakes by the end of 2023.
Related articles:
- Western Water Rewind: Questions Simmer About Lake Powell’s Future As Drought, Climate Change Point To A Drier Colorado River Basin
- The Hill: Arizona Democrat says California ‘failing to do its part’ on Colorado River crisis
- Tucson.com: Arizona water chief seeks federal action on Colorado River
- Fresh Water News: Reclamation - Upper Basin reservoirs insufficient to save Lake Powell