Flows into Lake Powell were slightly above average this year, but the giant reservoir in Utah remains far from full, officials with the Bureau of Reclamation say.
In 2005, flows into the reservoir were about 105 percent of average.
Even with that increase, Lake Powell is only about half- full, holding 12 million acre-feet of water.
One acre-foot of water is about 326,000 gallons.
“There were increases in both content and elevation in both Lake Powell and Lake Mead this year that were about the same in the water year 2003,” said Rick Clayton, a hydrologist with the Bureau of Reclamation. “Another way to look at that is what we saw this year was the equivalent of rolling back one year of drought.”
The drought of 2002 decimated Lake Powell, which acts like a water bank for the upper basin states of Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico and Utah, releasing water to Lake Mead for distribution to the lower basin as required under the 1922 Colorado River Compact.
Flows in Lake Powell in 2002 were 25 percent of average – the lowest they had been since the completion of the Glen Canyon Dam in 1963.
Clayton declined to say how long he thought it would take for Lake Powell to refill.
“That would be speculation,” he said. “But I think it’s safe to say it’s trending in the right direction.”
Some Western environmental groups are skeptical about the chances of Lake Powell ever refilling again.
They say the insatiable thirst of booming cities in Arizona, California and Nevada will outweigh any gains in flow the reservoir may experience.
“When the demand equals the supply, it seems highly unlikely Lake Powell will fill again,” said John Weisheit, conservation director for Living Rivers, a Moab- based group that supports decommissioning the Glen Canyon Dam. “It might happen. But let’s put it this way: It’s more likely to be empty than full.”
This summer Interior Secretary Gale Norton rejected a request by Colorado and other upper basin states to help refill the depleted reservoir by reducing outflows from Lake Powell.
The move disappointed officials in the upper basin states who wanted Norton to send a message to California, Nevada, and Arizona that she could curb releases in times of drought.
Staff writer Kim McGuire can be reached at 303-820-1240 or kmcguire@denverpost.com.