Efforts to update near-term guidelines for operations of the Glen Canyon and Hoover dams on the Colorado River system are expected to save at least 3 million acre-ft of water via use reductions through the end of 2026. The U.S. Dept. of Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation released a final supplemental environmental impact statement March 5 with a preferred alternative that officials say reflects a consensus-based approach to addressing the possibility of continued low-runoff conditions in the Colorado River Basin.
The proposed guidelines would allow for cutting back releases from Lake Powell in Utah and Arizona down to 6 million acre-ft if projections show the lake’s surface elevation dropping before 3,500 ft over the following 12 months.