Drought in the USA: US authorities want to direct more than 600 billion liters of water into Lake Powell

Enlarge image

Lake Powell is less than a quarter of its full capacity.

Also at this point, near the Wahweap Marina, there should actually be water

Photo: RJ Sangosti/Denver Post/Getty Images

The western United States has been drought for more than two decades - some experts are calling it a "mega drought", the worst in 1,200 years.

One of the consequences is clearly evident in Lake Powell, the second largest reservoir in the United States, on the Colorado River.

Its water level has been shrinking for years, and the lake currently holds less than a quarter of its full capacity.

And now threatens to endanger the power supply of millions of people - because a total of seven states depend on electricity generated in a hydroelectric power plant on Lake Powell.

The water intended to flow into Lake Powell could fill the Großer Wannsee 20 times over

The US authorities have therefore now announced a measure that has never had to be taken before.

The Bureau of Reclamation, which oversees water management and water supply under the U.S. Department of the Interior, will this year collect more than 1.5 million cubic feet of water from the Flaming Gorge Reservoir, located upstream on the Wyoming-Utah border , drain into Lake Powell.

616 million cubic meters of water, which corresponds to around 20 times the volume of the Großer Wannsee in Berlin.

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In addition, an additional 592 million cubic meters of water that would normally have been drained from Lake Powell will be retained.

"We have never taken this step before in the Colorado River basin, but the conditions we are seeing today, and the potential risk, require that we act immediately," said attorney Tanya Trujillo, who serves as water and science resource manager works in the Ministry of the Interior.

The measure could address concerns about hydroelectric power generation for at least 12 months, Trujillo said.

This deadline gives the authorities time to develop strategies for operating the dam at a lower water level.

Current for Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and Nebraska

The water that remains in the lake or is even additionally discharged is intended to raise the level by almost five meters and thus ensure that hydroelectric power production at Glen Canyon Dam can continue.

The 1,320-megawatt hydroelectric power plant on Lake Powell generates electricity for around five million people in Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and Nebraska.

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The decision will have no immediate impact on the amount of water allocated to cities in the region.

Farms that use water from the Colorado River are also not affected by the decision - some cuts in water allocation are in effect anyway.

However, the measure will put a strain on Lake Mead, the largest water reservoir in the USA.

It is southwest and downstream of Lake Powell.

Its water is also record-breakingly low.

Lake Mead is critical to providing water to 25 million people.

Experts doubt that the situation in the western United States will soon improve on its own.

"We'll never see these reservoirs fill up again," said Denielle Perry, a professor in Northern Arizona University's School of Earth and Sustainability.

vki/Reuters