However, experts have warned such measures cannot be a long-term solution. This story is part of ongoing coverage of the Colorado River, produced by KUNC with financial support from the Walton Family Foundation. It sucks up moisture from forests, backyard gardens and crop fields with greater intensity. During the 2000-2005 drought, Lake Powell lost 13 million acre-feet of water and dropped almost 100 feet. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. So the question is, how bad is it going to get? Northern Arizonas Glen Canyon Dam, which creates the lake, has a full capacity of 1,320 megawatts, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. LinkedIn sets the lidc cookie to facilitate data center selection. But it plays a huge role in the Colorado River basin. The southwestern states have been gripped by drought for over 22 years, experts say. The finding is ominous for the region's future drinking-water supply. Together, these reservoirs, fed by the mighty Colorado River, provide the water 40million Americans depend on. The story has been updated to reflect this information. JOHN DANKOSKY: So you know, with so many stories like this, we say, this is probably due to climate change. It's partly that there's less rain and snow, partly that as temperatures rise, plants use more water and more water evaporates out of the soil which would otherwise have ended up in the river. The big question is how water managers will divvy up a shrinking supply to feed a growing region. YSC cookie is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages. Udall questioned the validity of using the years before 2000 because the years 1990 to 1999 were very wet and not representative of the weather we see now. Lake Powell is rapidly drying up as a result of the scorching megadrought in the Western U.S., and may completely disappear in just decades. It doesnt matter if we get an incredible snowpack, our soils are so depleted right now that thats not going to really translate to water coming down through the river systems, Meyer said. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". Future conservation efforts are highly uncertain. And its split into two watersheds. Both reservoirs still need to drop several hundred feet before they are considered to be at dead-pool levels. Hes also been a long-time guest host on Science Friday. And data updated Monday from the California Department of Water Resources' tracker show the reservoir climbing to 60%, still below historical levels for February 72% but significantly higher than it had been. Okay. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". Is this as bad as climate change is going to get in shrinking the snowpacks in the headwaters? . How they disrupt our daily life, fuel disasters. And even the people who say, you know, oh, just wait for it to get wet again, know that changes have to be made because of that fundamental supply-demand imbalance. The lake isn't low enough yet to cause concerns about getting water out, but any hope of it refilling is years away, if ever, due to lowered rain and snow and increasing evaporation. Hes a reporter at KUNC, based in Fort Collins, Colorado. This summer, the water. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. . Lake Mead and Lake Powell, for water. What about the idea of a water shortage? The reservoir is integrating all the problems we have, all the challenges we face show up in that one number, in that one place, he said. This segment is part of the The State Of Science spotlight. A . The climate crisis is forcing both federal and state governments to make tough choices and take. He says such measures can help, for sure. Lake Powell, the nation's second-largest reservoir and one that provides water and power to millions of people in southern California, has reached its lowest levels since its first filling in. Every year, it stores water that flows downstream from the four Upper Basin states. This cookie is used for storing country code selected from country selector. And that sponge is very dry right now, and its sucking up all of that water before it can be used as water supply. Federal and state officials have committed to a more inclusive process that integrates the needs of tribes, environmental and recreation groups, and Mexico. The water in Lake Powell is low because the amount of water in the Colorado River has been falling for decades. Every other state in the watershed had one of its top five driest years on record. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. Conditions have been deteriorating across the river basin since the summer of 2020. As Lake Mead outside Las Vegas and Lake Powell in Utah decline, certain policies are triggered into action. Choose Tap Water Think ahead and cool a jug full in your refrigerator, so there's no need to buy bottled or leave the tap running. They both use water from the Colorado River. Lake Oroville, a key component of California's water supply, also benefited from the early-winter storms, as . Climatologist Jon Meyer with the Utah Climate Center said the number that captures the severity for him is 12 inches. That could cripple the ability of the Colorado Rivers four Upper Basin states to deliver river water to the Lower Basin states of Arizona, California and Nevada, as theyre legally obligated to do. Its also headed toward a record low later this year. This is prompting a lot of people to ask whats going to happen next. This cookie is used to detect and defend when a client attempt to replay a cookie.This cookie manages the interaction with online bots and takes the appropriate actions. Its 90% of the water supply to Las Vegas, 50% to Phoenix, effectively 100% to Tucson and 25% to Los Angeles, said Udall. I'm not sure a lot of Las Vega. Weve seen records set when it comes to dwindling soil moisture. Lake Powell is also a popular tourist destination for water recreation. Balken said depositing the lake's water in Lake Mead, which isn't made out of sandstone,. One acre-foot generally provides enough water for one to two households for a year. And by themselves they are no longer sufficient to meet the area needs. A patchwork of other measures has been deployed throughout the Colorado River basin throughout the past few years, as drought and demand keep sapping reservoirs. Kathleen Davis is a producer at Science Friday, which means she spends the week brainstorming, researching, and writing, typically in that order. Explain that a little bit for us, Luke, and just how dire the situation is for the groundwater in the region. What to know about the West's ongoing water crisis: Lake Powell is the nation's second-largestreservoir. After more than 22 years of drought compounded by warmer temperatures with climate change, Lake Mead and Lake Powell have declined to their lowest levels since they were filled. That includes releases of water upstream of Lake Powell, and voluntary cuts in Powells downstream neighbor, Lake Mead. Glen Canyon Dam can release water below minimum power pool through bypass jets until an elevation of 3,370 feet, which is then the top of dead pool and no further water can be released. She said the very fact that officials in Washington, D.C. are getting involved underscores the urgency of Lake Powells crisis. NID cookie, set by Google, is used for advertising purposes; to limit the number of times the user sees an ad, to mute unwanted ads, and to measure the effectiveness of ads. BACKGROUND: Western water crisis looms as California complicates critical water deal. In this column provided by Writers on the Range . Weve seen evaporation increase from reservoirs and streams at higher temperatures. Its not just like, you get a miracle year and youre out of it. 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On the contrary, he said, its actually become this locus of huge uncertainty, which doesnt allow downstream users to make effective plans, because they dont know what their allocations are going to be. Overall, the river's flowis down 20% in this century relative to the 20th century. So Luke, I dont know is this all just because of climate change? JOHN DANKOSKY: So obviously, people are preparing for worse times. This cookie is native to PHP applications. The dropping water levels are indicated by white marks on the canyon wall, often likened to a bathtub ring. People should definitely not feel like the agencies managing the Colorado River have it under control, he said. Kuhns analysis is the worst case, said Pat Tyrrell, Wyoming state engineer who has been involved in the Upper Basin water talks. Thank you for helping us continue making science fun for everyone. ET: The dead pool level of Lake Powell has been corrected. Stock image of Alstrom Point, Lake Powell. This segment is part ofThe State of Science, a series featuring science stories from public radio stations across the United States. Credit: Alex Hager. So water from the Colorado River is now pumped across the state of Arizona via the Central Arizona Project (CAP). If the outlet tubes cant meet the reservoirs needs, she said, the flow of water in the Grand Canyon itself could be reduced to a trickle. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. "Arizona is, to a greater or lesser degree, selling water to California," CAP attorney said of the later-killed deal. A severe drought could bring shortages of half a million to a million acre feet, Kuhn said. It can hold 9.3 trillion gallons of water at its peak and reach an elevation of 1,220 feet above sea level. The low levels arent just causing hand-wringing among the Wests water officials. The district entered 2021 with a record 3.2 million acre-feet of water storage saved up, including 1.3 million acre-feet in Lake Mead. 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