Business

Low water at Lake Powell raises power generation worries

Lake Powell has fallen below a key water level amid a megadrought that has impacted the western U.S. since 2000.

The lake feeds the powerhouse at Glen Canyon Dam in Arizona and fell to an elevation below 3,525 feet (about 1,074 meters) on March 15, following dry weather in February, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. The Bloomberg news service said that anything below the target elevation 3,525 feet is concerning; if it dips under 3,490 feet, the dam likely would no longer be able to generate hydro power.

Lake Powell began filling in March 1963 and completed its initial fill in June 1980. Total full elevation is 3,700 feet.

With a total capacity of 1,320 MW, Glen Canyon Powerplant on the Colorado River produces around 5 billion kWh of hydroelectric power annually and supplies electricity to seven states from Nebraska to New Mexico.

Water levels at Lake Powell were expected to recover in the coming months during the spring runoff, according to the bureau. Upper Colorado River snowpack as of March 17 was around 95.6% of normal. April 6 is the typical date for normal snowpack in the basin. The current snowpack is a little more than 85% of the April 6 average, according to the water-data.com web site.

A warmer, drier west has “drastically impacted our operations,” David Palumbo, acting commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, said in a statement earlier in March. “We are faced with the urgent need to manage in the moment.”