The Upper Colorado River Basin states have agreed to release 500,000 acre-feet of water from the Flaming Gorge Reservoir in an effort to prop up water levels in Lake Powell.
“The water level at Lake Powell has dropped much more rapidly than our models anticipated and has made it necessary for us to take expedited measures to address the situation,” said Gene Shawcroft, head of the Colorado River Authority of Utah and Utah’s Colorado River commissioner.
The Upper Basin states, the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) and the Upper Colorado River Commission developed the 2022 Drought Response Operations Plan (the 2022 plan) under the 2019 Drought Response Operations Agreement (DROA).
Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming all signed off on the 2022 plan, which covers the period from May 1, 2022, to April 30, 2023, and calls for the release of water from the Flaming Gorge Reservoir pending approval from the secretary of the Interior.
The Flaming Gorge Reservoir, located on the Utah and Wyoming border, is currently at 80 percent of capacity. The release of 500,000 acre-feet (an acre-foot is equivalent to 325,851 gallons) will lower the water level by 15 feet.
The move comes after the Department of the Interior (DOI) proposed reducing the annual release from the Glen Canyon Dam, which holds back Lake Powell, by 480,000 acre-feet to ensure levels remain above 3,490 feet. Once the lake falls below that level, it can no longer produce hydroelectricity for 3.2 million customers in the West.
The DROA identified the target elevation of 3,525 feet as the level to begin to take proactive measures to protect Lake Powell from declining below the elevation of 3,490 feet.
Based on the April 2022 forecast of a 6.31 million acre-feet inflow for the water year 2022, the Colorado River Mid-term Modeling System’s “24-Month Study” projects Lake Powell will end the water year 2022 near the elevation of 3,522 feet.
Recent snow in Wyoming and Colorado has helped snowpack levels. According to USDA, snowpack levels that feed the Flaming Gorge Reservoir are below average, with the Upper Green River basin at 91 percent and the Lower Green River basin at 83 percent of average. Snowpack levels in the Gunnison Basin in Colorado are 87 percent of average.
The 2022 plan does not rule out the possibility of water releases from the Blue Mesa Reservoir, located in Gunnison, CO, and the Navajo Reservoir, located in northwestern New Mexico. Depending on water availability and the water level in Lake Powell, releases could occur from these reservoirs in fall 2022 and winter 2023.
Last year, an emergency declaration from the DOI authorized the release of 181,000 acre-feet from the three reservoirs as part of the 2019 Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan and the Colorado River Compact.
Representatives from the seven states within the Colorado River Basin sent a letter to DOI Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Tanya Trujillo, agreeing with the proposed actions, provided they “be implemented in a manner that is operationally neutral” and don’t trigger cuts for any state.
The letter also urged the BOR to implement maintenance or feasible modifications to water delivery or hydropower generation infrastructure at the Glen Canyon Dam.
“We would hope that these temporary operational adjustments can be promptly implemented, in conjunction with the proposed 2022 Drought Response Operations Plan, to ensure the maximum reduction in operational risk and uncertainty in 2022,” the letter concluded. — Charles Wallace, WLJ editor
