Congress approved a water rights settlement for the Utah portion of the Navajo Nation in late 2020 that appropriated $220 million for water projects. As levels in Lake Powell and the Navajo Reservoir on the San Juan River have dropped, Tulley-Cordova said the Navajo Nation is advocating management plans that protect the viability of water diversions and hydropower production at the Glen Canyon Dam, which supplies homes on the reservation with electricity.įor decades, the tribal government has been working to secure its water rights through settlements with state and federal governments that were promised in 19th-century treaties. “What our priority is, first and foremost, for the Department of Water Resources is to ensure that Navajo residents have safe, clean water,” she said. “If we conserve a little bit across all seven states,” he said, “if all Colorado River water users pitch in a little bit - it’s going to make a big difference.” Correcting past inequitiesĬrystal Tulley-Cordova, a principal hydrologist for the Navajo Nation Department of Water Resources, said the drought has hit the Navajo Nation particularly hard, increasing food and water insecurity in a region where over a third of households are not connected to running water. Kanzer believes the drought response agreement “should result in significant reduction in lower basin over use” by California, Arizona and Nevada, but he added that all users in the basin will need to reduce water use. “We have to live within our means,” he said, noting that water withdrawals from Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir, are greater than inflows being delivered from Lake Powell. Kanzer used a metaphor common in water discussions, comparing water use in the basin to an unbalanced budget that is draining water “savings” in reservoirs far faster than they can be replenished. “The scale of response has to be proportional to the scale of the issue,” said Dave Kanzer, director of science and interstate matters for the Colorado River Water Conservation District in Glenwood Springs, Colo. 3, 2021.Īnalyzing tree ring data since 800 A.D., a study from the University of California found that the past 22 years have been the driest the Colorado River has seen in 1,200 years - and the pattern is linked to human-caused climate change.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River in northern Arizona, on Tuesday, Aug. Glen Canyon Dam is already releasing less water than usual into Grand Canyon and on to Lake Mead to keep Lake Powell’s level from dropping too rapidly.īut environmental groups and some water managers say the plan, a draft of which which is open to public comment, may be insufficient for addressing the scale of the water problems in the region. Shawcroft said that the revenue generated by power production at the dam is also a key source of funding for environmental programs like endangered fish recovery programs on the Colorado and San Juan rivers.Ī drought response plan that is expected to be finalized by the Bureau of Reclamation and other parties in April will propose methods to prop up Lake Powell, which could include releases from upstream reservoirs and other measures, Shawcroft said. There are a lot of people that rely on that power.” the hydropower generated from Glen Canyon is absolutely crucial from the energy supply standpoint. “Part of the reason that 3,525 is critical,” said Gene Shawcroft, chair of Utah’s Colorado River Authority, “is because. (Bureau of Reclamation) Lake Powell elevation forecast. The dam’s hydroelectric intakes are at 3,470 feet above sea level, but as the reservoir level drops below 3,525 feet the risk of equipment damage increases due to the possibility of air passing through the turbines. The low range of probable forecasts, Patno said, show that hydropower generation at the dam may become impossible before the end of 2022, marking an uncertain new reality for the 40 million people who rely on Colorado River water between Denver and Tijuana. Glen Canyon Dam hydropower production at risk The latest projections, Patno told a Glen Canyon Dam working group earlier this month, predicted runoff into the Colorado River will be around 76% of average, and, unless more storms arrive soon, that could drop to 59% of average. Heather Patno, a hydrologist with the Bureau of Reclamation, which oversees operations at Lake Powell, compared the snow season to a yo-yo or a roller coaster that has required forecasts to be repeatedly revised. (Christopher Cherrington | The Salt Lake Tribune)
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