Hopes for a boost to reservoir levels on the Colorado River
after a wet winter were dashed by a dry spring and summer, Bureau of
Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman said Friday as her agency said that
rules governing water deliveries in 2021 will be the same as those governing
them this year.
According to the bureau's 2-year projections, Lake Mead is
expected to be at elevation 1,085.28 feet on the trigger date — Jan. 1, 2021 —
meaning voluntary delivery reductions agreed to by the states of Arizona,
Nevada and California will remain in play, but more severe cuts will be staved
off for at least another year.
Lake Powell, which stores water from the Upper Basin is
projected to be at elevation 3,591.60 feet on the first of the year — 100 feet
above the level at which Glen Canyon dam's turbines would be cut off.
