That means the primary purpose of the reservoir is to backfill Lake Powell when needed. The water in Flaming Gorge Reservoir is almost entirely appropriated to the BOR’s Colorado River water storage complex, as spelled out in the 1922 Colorado River Compact, Tyrrell said. Lake Powell is a very key component in that river.” The Highway 191 Cart Creek Bridge spans Flaming Gorge Reservoir in Utah. “Protecting the power pool Lake Powell is really an ultimate goal for all of us - from compact compliance, to the power grid, to funding for reclamation, to environmental programs. “We can’t sit by and just keep Gorge full while everybody else below us is drying up,” Tyrrell said. Stakeholders in all seven Colorado River Basin states, along with partners in Mexico, agreed to BOR’s conservation actions for this year through a process spelled out in the Colorado River 2019 Drought Contingency Plan.Īlthough the BOR’s authority over the Colorado River water storage system didn’t require Wyoming’s approval for the drought contingency actions, Wyoming supports the effort, said Tyrrell, adding that it is also in the state’s interest. The rebalancing of water supplies between the Upper Basin - which includes Wyoming - and Lower Basin stakeholders is necessary to ensure hydroelectric generation and water supply for the LeChee Chapter of the Navajo Nation and the city of Page, Ariz., the BOR said. Water intake ducts at the dam’s hydroelectric power station would no longer function if the lake’s surface level reaches 3,490 feet, according to the BOR. The surface elevation at Lake Powell recently fell to 3,522 feet, the lowest since construction of the Glen Canyon Dam in the 1960s. “The conditions we see today, and the potential risks we see on the horizon, demands that we take prompt action.” Flaming Gorge Reservoir on the Utah side near the dam in September 2021. “We have never taken this step before in the Colorado River Basin,” Interior Department Assistant Secretary Tanya Trujillo said during a press call on Tuesday. The Upper Colorado Basin 2022 Drought Response Operations Plan will remain in effect until early 2023. In addition to the release from Flaming Gorge, the BOR will withhold 480,000 acre feet of water in Lake Powell, while Colorado River Lower Basin users have agreed to increased water conservation measures. The release from Flaming Gorge is part of an “unprecedented” water conservation effort on the Colorado River, which serves tens of millions of people in the American southwest and northern Mexico. “However, we have to be vigilant.”ĭonate Now ‘Unprecedented’ conservation measures “There will be no additional regulation for municipalities or irrigators or industry in the Wyoming part of the basin because of what’s going on at Flaming Gorge,” Tyrrell said. (Dustin Bleizeffer/WyoFile)įlaming Gorge Reservoir, the largest in Wyoming with a storage capacity of nearly 3.8 million acre feet of water, is well-suited to provide extra flows to help address supply shortages on the Colorado River, according to former Wyoming State Engineer Patrick Tyrrell, who represents Wyoming on the Upper Colorado River Commission. Flaming Gorge Reservoir at the dam in Utah, September 2021. The Green River, the chief tributary to the Colorado River, originates in the Wind River Range, flows to Flaming Gorge Reservoir, then connects with the Colorado River in Canyonlands National Park in Utah. The Flaming Gorge dam, on the Utah side, was completed in 1964 and is a critical component of the Colorado River water storage system. Flaming Gorge Reservoir, on the Green River, straddles the Wyoming-Utah border south of Rock Springs.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |