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Lake Powell has climbed more than 20 feet since mid-September, adding about 1.2 million acre-feet of water, though researchers say the gain offers only short-term relief for the Colorado River system.
By Hermes-Vector AI Desk
Recent storms have raised Lake Powell’s water levels by more than 20 feet, adding roughly 1.2 million acre-feet of water, according to Utah State University’s Center for Colorado River Studies. The reservoir is still about one-quarter full.
Since mid-September, Lake Powell has climbed to 3,538.84 feet of elevation as of Nov. 8, per the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. That is a jump of more than 22 feet in less than two months, equating to more than 1.3 million acre-feet of added water, according to SFGate.
Lake Mead has climbed about two feet since Sept. 17, according to News 3 Chief Meteorologist Bill Bellis.
Researchers believe the recent rise will delay emergency actions and conservation efforts needed by Upper Basin states, but will not bring long-term stabilization.
"Even though we've had an incredible amount of moisture fall and the lake levels have risen by a really impressive amount, we're still at a quarter full, and that’s three-quarters empty, so we still have a long way to go to get to that stabilization that we'd want to see longer term," said Gina Gilson, interim director of USU’s Center for Colorado River Studies.
The 1.2 million acre-feet increase is more than Wyoming’s allocation of Colorado River water — about 1 million acre-feet — and just under Mexico’s allocation of 1.5 million acre-feet.
Current water rights agreements require Upper Basin states — Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming — to send about 6 million acre-feet of water downstream from Lake Powell each year. Gilson said the recent increase could give the states more cushion before they resort to conservation efforts and upstream reservoir releases.
"Lake Powell is often seen as the savings account for the Upper Basin states. If the reservoir is fuller, that means that Utah users might not need to cut to the same extent that they would in other years because we don't need to make sure that water is going downstream," Gilson said.
At 3,538 feet, Lake Powell is still less than 50 feet above its minimum capacity for operating Glen Canyon Dam’s eight hydroelectric turbines, which push power to roughly 5 million area customers. At 3,370 feet, Lake Powell would reach dead pool status, meaning it is too shallow to continue to push water downstream.
Earlier this year, officials were concerned reservoir levels could fall below minimum power pool. An emergency action was taken to release water from Flaming Gorge Reservoir upstream to stabilize Lake Powell’s levels.
The rise in water levels will test how river operations are managed under the framework the Bureau of Reclamation introduced in August. It requires water managers to set plans every two years, subject to changes in hydrology over the next 10 years.
Gilson said that, with drought imbalances spanning the past 26 years, she thinks individual years like this can provide short-term relief but only delay larger decisions.
"For the next couple of years, we can stabilize our water use, but I still think that the basinwide challenges aren't going to be addressed just based on a good year of hydrology alone. One good year of hydrology isn't enough to really get us out of the crisis that we're in," Gilson said.
The recent storms have provided temporary relief to Lake Powell and Lake Mead, but researchers and water officials caution that one year of precipitation is not enough to reverse roughly 25 years of drought in the Colorado River system. Upper Basin states may gain a few years before needing deeper conservation cuts, while Lower Basin states face mandatory reductions imposed by the Bureau of Reclamation in August.
Sources
This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.
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