google_color_border = "FFFFFF"; As of Wednesday, the water level was 3,524.22 feet. The actual end of water year 2023 system storage may vary from this projection, primarily due to uncertainty regarding this seasons runoff and reservoir inflow. :pNB/gb2D0p6Ecb :qD_q7wE42TOOSW:Oa^(-]p7y|iZ.8uq:}1y3bJ]!G ) ytRdJp2 +[|}QpEU}V'k{yeKud"xl_-x lJ!UZ`,n!\3{dcb Flight Center. The reservoir's levels rise after consistent rain or snowpack melt in the area. Dry conditions and falling water levels were unmistakable in the image from April 13, 2003. Printable Version Gas Prices on Lake Detailed Map of Powell 15 Day Weather Forecast Were an initiative of theCenter for Environmental Journalismat the University of Colorado Boulder. A 59% flow into Powell translates to about 3.8 million acre-feet. Telling stories that matter in a dynamic, evolving state. Get the most up to date information on Lake Powell's water levels and the status of launch ramps from the Bureau of Reclamation, National Park Service, and more with the links and pages below. The 30-year average was updated in October 2022 from 1981 through 2010 to 1991 through 2020. Hydrologists recently updated the model that forecasts the level of Lake Powell. "As a result of this update, the median water year 2022 inflow forecast into Lake Powell decreased by 800,000 acre-feet," USBR stated in a press release distributed Thursday. The Colorado River cuts through dry land that was once covered by Lake Powell on September 7, 2022, near Hite, Utah. Scientists say the current drought is the driest on record in the last twelve hundred years. Under the current most probable forecast, the total water year 2023 unregulated inflow to Lake Powell is projected to be 10.44 maf (109 percent of average). Low water effects to launch ramps and services top Lake Powell Elevation (05/18/2022) 3526.05 ft Stay in the know! google_ad_width = 160; The lake level began to rebound; only the 2008 image appeared to deviate from the trend toward rising water levels. The reduction of releases from Lake Powell from 7.48 maf to 7.00 maf in water year 2022 resulted in a reduced release volume of 0.480 maf that normally would have been released from Glen Canyon Dam to Lake Mead as part of the 7.48 maf annual release volume, consistent with operations under the 2007 Interim Guidelines. n$L{Z. This is a decrease of 3.33 maf over the total storage at the beginning of water year 2022 when total system storage was 22.87 maf (39 percent of capacity). google_ad_client = "pub-0146338466817273"; Much of that water. In the early years of this image series, water levels began to drop. Water managers, who . google_color_url = "426C95"; google_color_link = "0000FF"; "These reservoirs are huge," Lund said. The deep, narrow, meandering reservoir extends upstream into southern Utah. By Anna Skinner On 1/18/23 at 4:42 PM EST. In the latter half of the decade, the drought eased somewhat. According to the Bureau of Reclamation's website (on March 22, 2022), Lake These projections are critical for planning for an increasingly dry future in the Colorado River Basin, but a new paper from Utah State University says the model may still underestimate the risk. The February forecast for water year 2023 ranges from a minimum probable of 8.37 maf (87 percent of average) to a January forecasted maximum probable of 14.93 maf (155 percent of average) with the most probable forecast for water year 2023 of 10.44 maf (109 percent of average). To view the most current reservoir elevation projections, click on: Lake Powell Elevation Projections. Lake Powell has fallen victim to excessive water use as a 20-year drought parches the region. On April 8, Reclamation announced it would likely keep more water in Lake Powell, reducing releases from the planned 7.5 million acre-feet to 7 million acre-feet, a move that could trigger emergency water cutbacks in Arizona, California and Nevada. (2019-2021) AND my own personal prediction of 2022 based on p. Melissa joined KNAU's team in 2015 to report on science, health, and the environment. SW Water Vapor, Accessibility of Launch Ramps, Primitive Launches and Other Sites She reported that, as of March 16, 2022, Lake Powell was at an elevation of 3,524.83 feet (ft.) with storage of 5.916 million acre-feet (maf) or 24 percent of capacity. Differences between the full period forecasts and the residual forecasts may not exactly equal the actual observed volumes due to rounding conventions (see Definitions section). His freelance Across the region, water utilities are in high-alert mode, preparing for another dry year on the Colorado River and holding hope that the Upper Basin reservoirs can be protected as long as possible from large-scale drought releases. These long-term projections help water managers plan for future shortages, which are increasingly likely in the Colorado River Basin, in part because of warmer temperatures brought on by global climate change. At the west end of Narrow Canyon, the Dirty Devil River joins the lake from the north. Among the dams on the Colorado is Arizona's Glen Canyon Dam, which creates Lake Powell. That reference period is updated once a decade; it now begins in the 1990s. Gas Prices on Lake We are 41% through the Water Year. Gas Prices on Lake An initiative of the Center for Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado Boulder. To view the current inflow forecast relative to past inflows, click on Lake Powell Inflow Forecast. At the same time, electric utilities across the West are looking for other green options and hoping that hydropower production wont stop altogether. The Bureau of Reclamation's most recent projections show Lake Mead dropping to 1,033.4 feet in elevation by the end of 2023, about 14 feet lower than the reservoir's current level. As a news piece, this article cites verifiable, third-party sources which have all been thoroughly fact-checked and deemed credible by the Newsroom in accordance with the Civil Constitution. This was the lowest water levels have been since the lake was first constructed in the 1930s. But generally below-normal precipitation the last several months after a very wet December.. But the region is battling a multidecade drought with rain harder to come by. 0.523 maf in Lake Powell from December 2022 through April 2023. As the forecast season progresses, Sunday, February 26, 2023 12:00:00 AM Level is 178.87 feet Correction: This article has been corrected to indicate that Lake Powell began filling 59 years ago, not 60 years, as the original article stated. Even in low emission climate scenarios (forecasts that are based on the assumption that future carbon dioxide emissions will increase relatively slowly), models predict precipitation may decline by 20-25 percent over most of California, southern Nevada, and Arizona by the end of this century. The model is based on weather conditions over a thirty-year span. In January, following the wet December Moser noted, the NOAA forecast called for 98% of the 30-year average to reach Powell. So, it takes awhile to fill and it takes awhile to empty.". In water year 2021 unregulated inflow volume to Lake Powell was 3.50 maf (36 percent of average), the second driest year on record above 2002. However, the Bureau of Reclamation's 24-month forecast that was just released at the end of last week projects Lake Mead to be at 1,041.10 feet in January 2023. More by Chris Outcalt, Got a story tip? The forecast for water year 2023 unregulated inflow to Lake Powell, issued on January 5, 2023, by the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center, projects that the most probable (median) unregulated inflow volume in water year 2023 will be 9.5 maf (99 percent of average). water-data.com Lake Powell Water Database. google_ad_client = "pub-0146338466817273"; Lake Powell Water Level including historical chart. Even Less water forecast to flow into Lake Powell this year, report says May NOAA runoff report predicts even less water will flow into Lake Powell this year than previously forecasted. The declines were first apparent in the side canyons feeding the reservoir which thinned and then shortened. In July 2021, water levels on the lake fell to the lowest point since 1969 and have continued dropping. New 1991-2020 Averages being used this year. He began his journalism career in New Hampshire, then moved West and became a reporter at the Lafayette News. This level is actually .02 feet . These instantaneous release adjustments stabilize the electrical generation and transmission system and translate to a range of about 1,300 cfs above or below the hourly scheduled release rate. Lake Powell