Officials Predict 'Doomsday' For Colorado River As Water Scarcity Persists
One of the most critical source water bodies in the country is on a dangerous path toward drying up, as officials recently warned that levels at nearby reservoirs are nearing problematic lows.
Water levels in Lake Powell, the country’s second-largest reservoir, are now dangerously close to falling below the openings that send river water to a critical hydroelectric dam. If water is unable to flow through these openings, turbines that serve 4.5 million people with electricity would not be able to function, and the only remaining outlet for Colorado River water would be a set of much smaller bypass tubes.
“Worse, officials warn, is the remote possibility of an even more catastrophic event,” The Washington Post reported. “That is if the water level falls all the way to the lowest holes, so only a small amount could pass through the dam. Such a scenario — called ‘dead pool’ — would transform Glen Canyon Dam from something that regulates an artery of importance into a hulking concrete plug corking the Colorado River.”
These critical Western source water bodies have been struggling for months due to growing water scarcity. Lake Powell has been facing potential “collapse” since at least August and nearby Lake Mead, the country’s largest reservoir, is also near its “dead pool” levels. California has recently proposed cutting its consumption of Colorado River water by 130 billion gallons per year in an effort to save it.
But now officials are using perhaps their most drastic language yet to convey the growing threat to water availability.
“A complete doomsday scenario,” as Bob Martin, the deputy power manager at Glen Canyon Dam, described it to the Post.
Negotiations among Colorado River consumers on how exactly to cut back are ongoing, and the federal government has been weighing mandatory cuts if voluntary ones prove not to be enough.
“Last month, federal water managers initiated a formal process to conduct an environmental analysis that could result in mandatory water use reductions in the Lower Basin,” per the Nevada Independent. “The federal government is evaluating a number of options, including holding back water in Lake Powell, redefining existing cuts and accounting for the significant amount of water that is lost to evaporation and leaky infrastructure.”
Whatever actions are ultimately taken, it is clear that water levels out West will not hold out much longer.
To read more about how drought impacts water systems, visit Water Online’s Water Scarcity Solutions Center.