AUDIO: Lake Powell water levels hit critical low

by Adnan Alam
  • Slug: Lake Powell water levels
  • Runtime: 1:20
  • Downloadable audio here. (Note: Some web browsers may not support media download)

Byline: Evan Lis/Cronkite News 

HOST INTRO

LAKE POWELL IS AN IMPORTANT SOURCE OF POWER GENERATION AND WATER FOR LOWER COLORADO RIVER BASIN STATES LIKE ARIZONA, CALIFORNIA, AND NEVADA. THIS WEEK THE LAKE’S WATER LEVELS DROPPED BELOW AN IMPORTANT THRESHOLD SET BACK IN 2019. CRONKITE NEWS’S EVAN LIS EXPLAINS WHAT THIS MEANS. 

(***EVAN LIS/VO***)(this is your first video sequence/timeline)

THREE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED TWENTY FIVE FEET. THIS IS THE WATER LEVEL THAT ALLOWS THERE TO BE AMPLE SPACE BEFORE GLEN CANYON DAM’S ABILITY TO PRODUCE HYDROELECTRICITY IS THREATENED. LAKE POWELL, WHICH SITS BEHIND GLEN CANYON DAM, REPORTED WATER LEVELS BELOW THIS THRESHOLD FOR THE FIRST TIME YESTERDAY.  WATER LEVELS  ARE NOW CUTTING INTO A THIRTY-FIVE FOOT BUFFER THAT PROTECTS THE SYSTEM FROM GOING UNDER ITS MINIMUM POWER POOL LEVEL. IF LEVELS DROP TOO FAR TURBINES WILL NOT BE ABLE TO GENERATE HYDROELECTRIC POWER. 

SARAH PORTER DIRECTS THE KYL CENTER FOR WATER POLICY. SHE SAYS THIS MEANS MORE WATER CUTS LIKELY FOR UPPER AND LOWER BASIN STATES LIKE ARIZONA. 

((**SOT**))

<SARAH PORTER, DIRECTOR, KYL CENTER FOR WATER POLICY>

“If Lake Powell is at these critical levels, the US Bureau of Reclamation could decide to hold back water from Lake Mead, which in turn… could mean bigger cuts for Arizona, and bigger cuts for the other Lower Basin water users as well, but Arizona bears the brunt of those cuts.” 

((**EVAN READS)) 

THOSE CUTS WERE ESTABLISHED UNDER THE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN WHICH WAS IMPLEMENTED IN  2019. THE CURRENT WATER SITUATION IN THE COLORADO RIVER BASIN HAS BEEN MAINLY DRIVEN BY A TWENTY-TWO YEAR MEGA DROUGHT IN THE WESTERN U-S. AND THE PAST TWO WINTERS HAVE BEEN RELATIVELY DRY. THAT MEANS THERE’S NOT AS MUCH SNOWPACK TO MELT IN SPRING AND RECHARGE THE COLORADO RIVER.

EVAN LIS, CRONKITE NEWS.