Hydropower

In an effort to prop up water levels at Lake Powell, water managers are negatively impacting recreation on Colorado’s biggest man-made lake. 

As competition for water increases, the way hydropower is managed within regions and across the power grid in the U.S. will have to evolve.

As the Southwest faces rapid growth and unrelenting drought, the Colorado River is in crisis, with too many demands on its diminishing flow. Now those who depend on the river must confront the hard reality that their supply of Colorado water may be cut off.

The releases from Flaming Gorge, Blue Mesa and Navajo reservoirs are designed to bolster hydropower production at the ailing Lake Powell.

Low levels and warming waters threaten to increase invasive species in the Colorado River.

With the Southwest locked in a 19-year drought and climate change making the region increasingly drier, water managers and users along the Colorado River are facing a troubling question: Are we in a new, more arid era when there will never be enough water?

Millions of dollars are being lost as Lake Powell’s drought-strapped hydropower system fails to produce enough electricity.

Experts say it will take a lot more than one snowy winter to refill the reservoir. 

Communities along the Colorado River are facing a new era of drought and water shortages that is threatening their future. With an official water emergency declaration now possible, farmers, ranchers, and towns are searching for ways to use less water and survive.

As drought threatens Colorado River reservoirs' ability to generate hydropower, the Bureau of Reclamation is creating work-arounds.