Though snowpack that feeds the river is among the basin’s deepest in decades, one expert noted that it would take nearly a decade of wet years to refill Lake Powell. “The crisis is still very real and very much in front of us.”AdvertisementThe upper Colorado River basin, which stretches from southern Wyoming to the Four Corners region, drains to Lake Powell along the Utah-Arizona border. AdvertisementAfter Lake Powell’s surface dropped to about 3,520 feet above sea level in mid-April, it has been largely rising. The water flows into Lake Powell are substantial, but in context, are not reason for celebration, Leeflang said. AdvertisementThe Bureau of Reclamation has said that means a need to continue talks among the Colorado River states on a plan to prevent Lake Powell and Lake Mead from dropping too low to ensure water deliveries and to generate hydropower.

Source: Washington Post May 11, 2023 12:08 UTC