USBR - Water Levels At Glen Canyon Dam May Fall Low Enough To Stop Electricity Generation By December 2026

[hatrack]

Federal officials reported Tuesday that the water level in Lake Powell, one of the main water storage reservoirs for the Colorado River Basin, could fall low enough to stop hydropower generation at the reservoir by December 2026. The reservoir’s water levels have fallen as the Colorado River Basin, the water supply for 40 million people, has been overstressed by rising temperatures, prolonged drought and relentless demand. Upper Basin officials sounded the alarm in June, saying this year’s conditions echo the extreme conditions of 2021 and 2022, when Lake Powell and its sister reservoir, Lake Mead, dropped to historic lows.

The basin needs a different management approach, specifically one that is more closely tied to the actual water supply each year, the Upper Colorado River Commission’s statement said. The seven basin states, including Colorado, are in high-stakes negotiations over how to manage the basin’s water after 2026. One of the biggest impasses has been how to cut water use in the basin’s driest years.

EDIT

The Bureau of Reclamation’s July report, called a 24-month study, shows the potential for Lake Powell to decline below two critical elevations: 3,525 feet and 3,490 feet. It could drop below 3,525 feet in April 2026, which would prompt emergency drought response actions. That’s in the most probable scenario, but the federal agency also considers drier and wetter forecast scenarios. The dry forecast shows that the reservoir’s water levels would fall below this elevation as soon as January. Lake Powell would have to fall below 3,490 feet in order to halt power generation.

EDIT

Hydroelectric power generation takes a hit with lower water levels at Lake Powell and Lake Mead. Reclamation’s dry conditions forecast says Lake Powell could fall below 3,490 feet by December 2026, and Lake Mead’s water level could fall below a key elevation, 1,035 feet, by May 2027. At that point, Hoover Dam would have to turn off several turbines and its power production would be significantly reduced, said Eric Kuhn, a Colorado water expert. In more typical or unusually wet forecasts, neither reservoir would fall below these critical elevations in the next two years, according to the report.

EDIT

https://coloradosun.com/2025/07/17/lake-powell-colorado-hydropower-water-levels/

[Mike 03]

1. Worrisome to say the least

This year's Southwest monsoon so far has been a disappointment. But the temperament of the monsoon has changed since I moved here (central Arizona) many years ago. We used to get steady rain mixed in with thunderstorms; now the monsoon either fizzles out completely with very little rain (or worst of all, what they call dry thunderstorms, which is nothing but lightning), or it is a scary and unrelenting series of massive and extreme thunderstorms resulting in sporadic flash flooding, hail, rockslides, microbursts, damage to the animal and plant life (not to mention roofs and vehicles). 2022 and 2023 were like that. Most of the homes in my neighborhood have new roofs because of a severe thunderstorm/flash flood with hail that occurred in August 2022.

I never, ever used to "worry" about the monsoon. Now I start perspiring about it in May, pulling together weather radios, supplies in case I need to evacuate the house due to a lightning strike, flooding or just plain wildfire (which is the most likely scenario for our town being wiped off the map). Heaven is turning into hell.

[hunter]

2. I hope I live long enough to see this dam removed.

These dams are like ticking time bombs. If global warming causes the collapse of our world civilization I worry that future generations might not have the industrial capacity to safely remove large dams, in which case the dams will fail naturally with devastating consequences downstream.