It took decades for Lake Powell to reach catastrophically low levels, and according to one expert, it'll take a long time to restore the levels, too. Lake Powell was at 26% of capacity, 168 feet below its full elevation of 3,700 feet above sea level at . 192 0 obj <>stream Prepared by Ashley Nielson NOAA, National Weather Service Colorado Basin River Forecast Center Salt Lake City, Utah www.cbrfc.noaa.gov Contents Lukas noted that the dry soil conditions are factored into the NOAA runoff predictions from the get-go so there shouldnt necessarily be any big surprises with that particular variable. average basin temperatures and precipitation for the forecast period. Graphical view of Lake Powell water data. Some Arizona cities have implemented drought management plans to conserve water, but the area continues to use water at a rate that negates Lake Powell's recovery. Last Reading: 3522.33 on Feb 12, 2023. 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. It will be among the lowest years of generation ever, said Nick Williams, power manager for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamations Upper Colorado River Region in an interview last week. Lake Powell is so low that it is nearing a dead pool, in which water levels aren't high enough to deliver water downstream. Fresh Water News is an independent, non-partisan news initiative of Water Education Colorado. 2022, a day after Southern California delared a water . Lund said that throughout the reservoir's history, it has refilled to its original levels just once. Last Reading: 3521.11 on Feb 27, 2023 Powell was last within 2" of this elevation on Feb 26, 2023 There are currently 1,734,731,016,499 gallons of water in Lake Powell! //-->, Printable Version Forecasts are calling for 4.1 million acre-feet of water to flow into Lake Powell from April to July this year, but water managers are obligated to release more than 7 million acre-feet out of the lake. 175 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[<68753438768B134985CC80C922059B30>]/Index[159 34]/Info 158 0 R/Length 84/Prev 199590/Root 160 0 R/Size 193/Type/XRef/W[1 2 1]>>stream The Colorado River cuts through dry land that was once covered by Lake Powell on September 7, 2022, near Hite, Utah. The final NOAA forecast for the season predicts the amount of water to reach Lake Powell this year to be about 60% of average. Lake Powell