Lake Powell at 3,524 Feet, 34 Above Minimum Power Pool, as Drought and Low Snowpack Continue

Lake Powell measured 3,524.3 feet above sea level as of Monday, placing it 34 feet above the 3,490-foot elevation that marks the start of the dead power pool where hydropower production stops, ABC News reported. The reservoir holds about 5.52 million acre-feet of live storage, 260,000 acre-feet above the lowest level recorded since the early 1960s.

Live storage has declined by roughly 4,800 acre-feet per day since June 1.

Operations become very complicated once elevation falls below 3,500 feet and live storage drops below 4.3 million acre-feet, at which point the Bureau of Reclamation would be seriously concerned, according to Jack Schmidt, director of the Center for Colorado River Studies at Utah State University.

A dead pool at 3,370 feet would trap about 240 feet of water at the bottom of the canyon, preventing gravity flow past Glen Canyon Dam.

The Colorado River Basin is experiencing the lowest snowpack on record, with more than two-thirds of the West in drought and much of the basin under severe to extreme conditions, ABC News reported. Runoff since the mid-21st century has been 13 to 15 percent lower than in the mid to late 20th century.

Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the country, stood at 1,042.8 feet above sea level, just over 2 feet above its July 2022 record low of 1,041 feet.

Its level fell about 5 feet in June. The lower basin states have submitted an allocation plan. The Bureau of Reclamation is scheduled to release updated projections this week.