And that sponge is very dry right now, and its sucking up all of that water before it can be used as water supply. For the authoritative record of Science Fridays programming, please visit the original aired/published recording. Climatologist Jon Meyer with the Utah Climate Center said the number that captures the severity for him is 12 inches. The test_cookie is set by doubleclick.net and is used to determine if the user's browser supports cookies. A drying climate and withering heat in recent years have pummeled the region: water cuts to farmers, dry wells, mass fish and bird die-offs, and depleted reservoirs that have decimated hydropower output. The dropping water and the reservoirs expanding bathtub rings are also tied to policy. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Lake Powell, the country's second-largest reservoir and a key source of water and power for much of the West, is more parched than ever.Earlier this month, the lake dropped below 25% capacity . 3. Throughout the history of the American West, water issues have shown their ability to both unite and divide communities. Hes a reporter at KUNC, based in Fort Collins, Colorado. At 3,370 feet, the reservoir hits. What about the idea of a water shortage? The Lower Basin states have already agreed on two short-term programs to reduce their take of water from Mead. Lake Powell is supposed to buffer water supply during times of drought [and] it is not performing that function now. At that point, Upper Basin states would start delivering water from their other reservoirs to Powell. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. "We can make up energy through fossil fuels, but if we fall short on water, we have to restrict supply because there are little to no replacements," he said. The new studys analysis is consistent with the studies and analyses CAP has been doing and is part of the reason its been focusing on trying to protect Lake Mead, Cullom said. So Im guessing over the next several years, as policies are negotiated, youre going to hear a lot more about how tribes are being involved in that process. I would say less than 20 percent, Ostler said. Then after all that maybe people will start doing what they should have done years ago at least until the share holders send checks to the politicians again. This Statista chart shows the share of the continental United States' area under different levels of drought between 2018 and 2022. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. Credit: Alex Hager. At the same time,demand has risen due to increased population growth in the West. Lakes in the Colorado River Basin are drying up and losing water, with severe water cuts now expected across four states - the start of a water crisis in the West. An acre-foot is 325,851 gallons, or the amount of water that will flood an acre of land to a depth of one foot. At 3,522 feet, Lake Powell's water surface elevation is at its lowest point since it was first filled in the 1960s, per a statement. JOHN DANKOSKY: So obviously, people are preparing for worse times. Balken surmises the jugs were tied to the trees back when Lake Powell just covered their upper branches to warn boaters of the hazard beneath the surface. Since Lake Powell is primarily sandstone, the lake actually leaks water into the porous rocks. They don't have it under control. "It's tough to see," Levy told 12News. And it would increase the likelihood of cutbacks in river water deliveries to Arizona, in particular. Explain that a little bit for us, Luke, and just how dire the situation is for the groundwater in the region. The loss of generation from the lake would deprive the grid of about a quarter million households worth of power. The district entered 2021 with a record 3.2 million acre-feet of water storage saved up, including 1.3 million acre-feet in Lake Mead. By the end of the summer, its projected to be even lower, at 29% of its capacity, which is a record low. In this column provided by Writers on the Range . The JSESSIONID cookie is used by New Relic to store a session identifier so that New Relic can monitor session counts for an application. Lake Powell hasn't been this low since June of 1965, just two years after it began to fill with water. But even some creosote is dying, unable to take the one-two punch of both the hottest and driest conditions on record last year in parts of Arizona. The river also crosses over the US-Mexico border and two Mexican states, Baja California and Sonora. After more than 22 years of drought compounded by warmer temperatures with climate change, Lake Mead and Lake Powell have declined to their lowest levels since they were filled. Created by Bluecadet. For the Upper Basin states, the reservoir storage has ensured theyll be able to meet their legal requirement under the 1922 Colorado River Compact to deliver 75 million acre feet to the Lower Basin every 10 years. The low levels arent just causing hand-wringing among the Wests water officials. Earlier this year, the Bureau of Reclamation released about 500,000 acre-feet from Flaming Gorge Reservoir in Utah and Wyoming to Lake Powell, increasing its elevation about 16 feet. We are really in unprecedented territory right now, and its not even close, Meyer said. which could funnel up to 300,000 acre-feet from Powell.One of those projects, Utah's Lake Powell pipeline to St. George, would . Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Back-to-back dry years years with below-average runoff have left little water in Lake Mead and Lake Powell, a reservoir upstream. At 70 feet below the level of Lake Powell as of spring 2021, this stage of Fill Mead First would allow much of Glen Canyon's world-renowned landscape to reemerge and be restored. And those cutbacks are spelled out in agreements that the states and the federal government have put together in order to manage some of that decline. The water level decline . LinkedIn sets this cookie from LinkedIn share buttons and ad tags to recognize browser ID. Kathryn Sorensen, research director at the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University, said it will push water managers further in the direction of finding more permanent solutions. People are having to do things that you dont necessarily see, but we have water being hauled for livestock, water being hauled in for wildlife, Selover said. 2002, 2018 and 2021 are the most intense dry periods on record for the basin. It is not creating certainty in the water market, Mankin said. Its companion reservoir, Lake Mead, is at levels almost as low. Science Friday is produced by the Science Friday Initiative, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Lake Powell is rapidly drying up as a result of the scorching megadrought in the Western U.S., and may completely disappear in just decades. The river carried an average of 14.7 million acre feet from 1906 through 2015. Down the Colorado River lies Lake Mead, which is also seeing lower water levels than ever before. That includes releases of water upstream of Lake Powell, and voluntary cuts in Powells downstream neighbor, Lake Mead. JOHN DANKOSKY: When you use the term megadrought, that sounds like a newer term. Water management requires planning for the future. KUNC is solely responsible for its editorial coverage. Joining me to shed a little bit more light on this is Luke Runyon. The Glen Canyon Dam forms Lake Powell and the Hoover Dam forms Lake Mead. The reservoir is integrating all the problems we have, all the challenges we face show up in that one number, in that one place, he said. KUNC is solely responsible for its editorial coverage. The water level on Lake Powell is 100 feet from its high mark in August 2013. Thats about the amount of water that our soils are behind in terms of what they normally would have, Meyer said. Creosote is one I personally like to call it the cockroach of the vegetation world because pretty much nothing kills creosote. JOHN DANKOSKY: So you know, with so many stories like this, we say, this is probably due to climate change. Today its about half full, Kuhn said. And this is just the beginning of what. This cookie is used to detect and defend when a client attempt to replay a cookie.This cookie manages the interaction with online bots and takes the appropriate actions. It can hold 9.3 trillion gallons of water at its peak and reach an elevation of 1,220 feet above sea level. "Climate change makes these extreme weather events both more frequent and more severe, '' Matthew Casale, Environment Campaigns Director at non-profit advocacy group PIRG, previously told Newsweek. 84% Of Upper Basin In Extreme To Exceptional Drought This is the highest percentage of land in the river's Upper Basin since 2002, which stands as the region's driest year on record. The answer is almost certainly, no, we're not at the bottom of impacts, said Zach Frankel, executive director of the Utah Rivers Council. Mountain snowpack is generally below average for this time of year, so that boost may not be as big as it has been in years past. "That means that due to climate change, it is more likely that we will see [more] extreme heat waves". It sucks up moisture from forests, backyard gardens and crop fields with greater intensity. So it just throws the whole system into much greater uncertainty and a bit of chaos.. At this stage a significant amount of Glen Canyon . It wascreated by blocking the Colorado River atGlen Canyon in southern Utah and northernArizona. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. The level has risen over the winter months due to rainfall and particularly cold weather to hit parts of the U.S. Those cutbacks are likely to grow steeper in 2021. Science Friday transcripts are produced on a tight deadline by 3Play Media. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". In addition, the river itself experiences more evaporation. Theyre roughly 25% full now, saidBrad Udall, a water and climate scientist at Colorado State University. But its fundamental purpose under the federal law that created it is to serve as a water insurance policy for the Colorado River Basin. "I've been here since 2007 and obviously this is way lower than I've ever seen it.". In case of a drought like that of 2000-2005, Lake Mead would get 7.48 million acre-feet, worsening the structural deficit that is already causing Mead to drop by up to 12 feet a year due to the Lower Basin states chronic overuse of river water compared to supply. This segment is part of the The State Of Science spotlight. On top of the hydropower the lake generates, its the source of drinking water for the 7,500 residents of Page, Az., and the 1,443 members of the LeChee chapter of the Navajo Nation. You cant go into a drought like that today if its half full. The dryness is currently off the charts in parts of the watershed. Even if nothing is done, he believes the risk quite low. The third would transfer some water stored in the smaller Upper Basin reservoirs to Lake Powell. So when Lake Mead declines, certain policy triggers are put in place. The finding is ominous for the region's future drinking-water supply. Nancy Selover, Arizonas state climatologist, says the Upper Basin figure is concerning because that accounts for the rivers headwaters. Record-breaking high temperatures dragged well into fall. Its 90% of the water supply to Las Vegas, 50% to Phoenix, effectively 100% to Tucson and 25% to Los Angeles, said Udall. Asthe latest round of federal forecastsfor the rivers flow shows, its plausible, maybe even likely, that the situation could get much worse this year. This is very unpredictable and these are going to be difficult conversations in the coming years.. That leaves a sizable deficit and little time to turn things around. And you know, thats way beyond any sort of voluntary conservation that Arizona has done up until this point. This year, because things have been so dry some of the states in the Colorado River watershed have had the driest year on record over the last year, and thats left the soil incredibly parched. Despite the storms that brought heavy rain and snow to California and other Western states in January, experts say it would take years of such weather to replenish the West's water resources. LUKE RUNYON: Sure, so much of the attention in the basin goes towards the rivers largest reservoirs, which also happen to be the biggest reservoirs in the entire United States. The sp_t cookie is set by Spotify to implement audio content from Spotify on the website and also registers information on user interaction related to the audio content. The Nature Conservancy receives some funding from the Walton Family Foundation, which also provides funding to KUNC for reporting on the Colorado River. Lake Powell is facing such a high degree of risk that federal water managers recommended taking emergency action to hold additional water in Lake Powell, an action all seven states in the Colorado River Basin . Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Is this as bad as climate change is going to get in shrinking the snowpacks in the headwaters? The use of these cookies is strictly limited to measuring the site's audience. Now what? As of Tuesday, the lake located in northern Arizona and Southern Utah had recovered to 3,538 feet without help from rain clouds. These cookies do not allow the tracking of navigation on other websites and the data collected is not combined or shared with third parties. We'll assume you're okay with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. This drought will only be exacerbated by climate change, as the increased global temperatures are expected to increase the severity of drought weather and frequencies of wildfires, as well as influencing a vast range of other extreme weather events. Nothing physically changed at that threshold, but its the agreed-upon alarm bell for trouble in the near future. Institute Executive Director Eric Balken said taking such a step would better position stakeholders to address the drought on their own terms rather than simply running out. The JSESSIONID cookie is used to determine if the user Consent for the in... 25 % full now, saidBrad Udall, a reservoir upstream website,.... Elevation of 1,220 feet above sea level worse times use of these cookies do allow... A water insurance policy for the cookies in the category `` Analytics '' because pretty much nothing kills creosote term... Under different levels of drought [ and ] it is more likely that we will see [ more extreme... 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