Bold Western Water Solutions to Repair the Colorado River
After more than a century of powering the economies of seven states, the Colorado River’s water is running dry.
Lake Powell, the Colorado River’s giant reservoir that powers millions of homes across the West, is at its emptiest on record as it enters the hottest part of summer. And the worst is yet to come.
Over the past few years, the lake’s water level has temporarily declined, but that drop occurred in the spring, after which the snow melted and the lake refilled. That replenishment never happened this year.
As a result, Lake Powell will be reduced to a “minimum power pool” by next spring, according to newly released federal projections. When the water level drops below that, Glen Canyon Dam stops producing electricity.
“This result does not reflect recent drought response measures, but rather serves as a stark reminder that the Colorado River remains vulnerable,” the federal Bureau of Reclamation wrote of the June 15 forecast.
If water levels drop further, the Colorado River, which flows through the Grand Canyon known as the “Dead Pool,” could shut down, causing an environmental catastrophe. This is generally considered an unlikely scenario by experts, as federal managers are likely to build a new outlet at the dam before that happens.
As long-term climate change makes the West warmer and drier, the amount of water in the reservoir is gradually decreasing. Currently, the lake is 23.28% full. The last time it was completely full was in 1983.
Federal water managers are siphoning water from other reservoirs in Colorado and Wyoming to slow Lake Powell’s decline. But their forecast also shows Lake Powell’s water levels will continue to fall until late next spring, when this winter’s snow begins to melt.
Precipitation caused by a super El Niño weather pattern in the Pacific Ocean could help, but water experts say it won’t reverse long-term trends.
The lake’s water level typically reaches its bottom each spring, after which the snow begins to melt into early summer. But this winter has been devastatingly dry, and water experts say water from smaller upstream reservoirs will be needed to keep the lake’s level from falling below that of the power pool.
Lake managers have begun extending boat ramps in preparation for continued low water levels, and workers recently floated the entire Bullfrog Marina across the lake into deeper water at Utah’s Halls Crossing. The area attracts an estimated 4 million recreational visitors annually who come to enjoy houseboating, waterskiing, and kayaking on the lake and its scenic side canyons, along with the rock arches of Rainbow Bridge.
In the small city of Page, Ariz., which borders the dam, reports of lake levels have hurt tourism, city spokesman Adam Geller said. He said city hotel revenues were down 6% compared to this time last year, although it was unclear how much of a direct impact the lake levels were having, given the recent rise in gasoline prices and the slump in international tourism.
Geller added that as lake levels drop, city officials are developing new low-water drinking water sources to provide water to the city’s approximately 7,300 residents, hotels, businesses and golf courses.
Page was built in the 1960s as a staging area for dam construction, and its fate remains inextricably tied to the lake and the Colorado River, including the internationally known Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend. Geller said the lake still has more than 1,000 miles of shoreline to explore, which visitors often do by houseboat.
“This community has a great track record of adapting,” Geller said. “The dam is a story of resilience in itself. It wasn’t built to withstand droughts like this.”
Geller said city leaders are hoping El Niño forecasts will bring rain in the fall, snow in the winter, and rising lake levels to buy time until a long-term solution is found.
“If we get that snow, it’ll probably solve the problem a little bit,” he said.
The drop in water levels has also heightened tensions between the seven states that jointly manage the Colorado River: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, and some Native American tribes. California gets the most water from its rivers, even during the dry season.
In an April 9 letter to downstream governors, the governors of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming warned that using water from smaller reservoirs to revitalize Lake Powell would jeopardize jobs and tourism in their states. Governors in what are known as the “Upper Basin” states have long argued that farmers in California and Arizona should use less water, even though they are legally entitled to it.
Federal water managers have begun partially draining the reservoir. – Including Canyon of Flames in Wyoming – This is to keep enough water in Lake Powell to generate electricity. Water from Lake Powell is captured at Lake Mead outside Las Vegas, providing power, irrigation and drinking water to tens of millions of people, including critical California agriculture.
“Years like this one remind us that adequate water storage can help us get through a dry year, and that, like every year, we must prepare not just for this year but for future dry years,” the upper basin governors wrote. “We recognize the need to live within the available supply, and we expect other communities to do so as well.”
Some conservation groups are calling on California and Arizona, in particular, to make major changes in the types and locations of crops they grow. Farmers pay a fee for Colorado River water, and historically it has been so cheap that they have used it in large quantities to grow thirsty crops like alfalfa in desert regions.
Federal water managers are trying to get seven states to agree on a water use reduction plan. Under the Biden administration, federal taxpayers paid billions of dollars to farmers to stop planting crops, which are considered a short-term solution and too expensive to maintain indefinitely.
Over the past 25 years, the average flow of water in the Colorado River has decreased by 20% from 1900 to 2000, California officials say.
States continue to vie as supplies dwindle. And Lake Powell and Lake Mead must always have a constant flow of water so that millions of homes and businesses can produce electricity. Mexican and Native American tribes also have water rights and a say in management.
States have not been able to find an acceptable compromise. This puts the entire system at risk of collapse, said Aaron Weiss, executive director of the Western First Center. This bipartisan center advocates for stronger land and water conservation across the West.
In addition to limiting lawn stimulation and paying farmers to use less water, some proposals call for piping water from the Mississippi River to Arizona, transporting icebergs from the polar regions, or building nuclear-powered desalination plants off the coast of California.
Several environmental groups have also proposed removing Glen Canyon Dam or bypassing it entirely, draining what’s left into Lake Mead and implementing stricter water conservation measures.
“We’re now at the point where this has been predicted for 20 years, and it’s going to be very difficult and very urgent,” Weiss said. “Whatever the solution is, it needs to be resolved quickly.”
