The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has ordered a release between 660,000 and 1 million acre-feet of water from Flaming Gorge Reservoir, on the Utah – Wyoming line, downstream to Lake Powell, on the Utah – Arizona border. That water will stay in Lake Powell to help the reservoir continue its power generating capabilities, and ensure high enough reservoir levels that it can continue sending water downstream to Lake Mead.
Flaming Gorge Reservoir is a renowned kokanee salmon fishery, and also home to some large lake trout. If the Bureau of Reclamation decides to drain all 1 million acre-feet from the reservoir, it will drop 35 feet in surface elevation. The Green River below Flaming Gorge Dam is widely regarded as one of the best trout fisheries in the world. The proposed releases would likely have little effect on the trout fishery in the short-term.
Reclamation made this decision to help save Lake Powell as it battles record-low levels. Powell generates significant power for communities throughout the West, but it can only operate its turbines if the reservoir remains above a certain level. Adding to that, the Glenn Canyon Dam was designed in a way that it can’t push water downstream without significant levels already in the reservoir, since the dam’s outflow tubes aren’t located at the bottom of the structure.
This all comes on the heels of one of the worst winters on record for the Rocky Mountains, and the Colorado River Basin in particular. Over 40 million people get their water from the Colorado River, but the system is overextended and running dry. This move to help fill Lake Powell and keep it generating power and pushing water downstream through the Grand Canyon, and eventually into Lake Mead, is a stopgap that officials hope will tide Powell over until next spring.
Federal officials have also guaranteed that Flaming Gorge will be able to retain water until the amount it sends downstream has been fully recovered.
Finally, Reclamation also made a decision to keep 1.48 million acre-feet of water in Lake Powell, further cutting what the Lower Basin states receive in downstream flows. Arizona, California, and Nevada are legally entitled to a certain amount of water from the Upper Colorado River Basin states – Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. However, there’s not enough water in Powell, or the Colorado River Basin, to deliver the agreed-upon amount, so the cut of 1.48 million acre-feet of water is mandatory.
Further cuts, and possible releases, are likely unless the West experiences a wet winter and spring in 2027.