Among America’s biggest tanks simply struck a record low

Science news

Snow dry spell and abnormally warm conditions throughout the Colorado Basin in 2026 greatly decreased water streaming into significant tanks throughout the U.S. West.

By summer season, the impacts of the weak 2025-2026 mountain snowpack in the Upper Colorado Basin had actually reached Lake Powell. With far less snowmelt than typical feeding the Colorado River, inflows decreased, and the second-largest tank in the United States was up to record-low levels in late August and early September.

Lake Powell Falls Below Its Previous Record

Satellite images caught the remarkable modification in Lake Powell near Glen Canyon Dam. The images were gathered by the OLI (Operational Land Imager) aboard the NASA-USGS Landsat 8 satellite on September 1, 2017 (left), and September 10, 2026 (right).

In the 2026 image, Lake Powell’s water surface area stood at 3,517.24 feet. Approximately a month previously, the tank had actually currently fallen listed below its previous record low of 3,519.92 feet, which was set on April 13, 2023. Water levels continued decreasing into early September.

The 2017 image offers a striking contrast, revealing Lake Powell throughout among its greatest water levels of the previous years.

Lake Mead Also Reaches Record Lows

The Colorado River initially streams into Lake Powell before continuing downstream towards Lake Mead. In August 2026, Lake Mead likewise reached record-low levels.

The river system, handled by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) and other companies, is a crucial source of both water and electrical power throughout the Southwest. More than 40 million individuals depend on it, consisting of locals of Las Vegas, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and San Diego. The river likewise provides water to approximately 5 million acres of farmland.

Why Snow Matters So Much to the Colorado River

Much of the Colorado Basin is dry or semi-arid, that makes mountain snow particularly crucial. A considerable share of the Colorado River’s yearly circulation starts as snow that builds up at high elevations throughout winter season and melts throughout spring and early summer season.

The Upper Colorado Basin, together with numerous mountainous areas throughout the U.S. West, got abnormally little snow throughout winter season 2025-2026. The scarcity totaled up to a snow dry spell.

Durations of record heat made conditions even worse by additional decreasing the snowpack. As an outcome, the spring snowmelt provided far less water to tanks than it generally would, supplying little relief for currently diminished lake levels.

Emergency Situation Steps to Protect Lake Powell

In April 2026, the USBR started taking steps to support Lake Powell and avoid the tank from dropping listed below the elevation needed for hydropower generation.

Without intervention, the company thought about that possibility sensible by August 2026.

To assist support Lake Powell, USBR started launching extra water from Flaming Gorge Reservoir in northern Utah and southern Wyoming. At the very same time, authorities decreased the quantity of water being launched from Lake Powell into Lake Mead.

The company likewise canceled a “controlled flood” prepared for April that was planned to restore sandbars utilized as fish environment. In August, authorities likewise avoided a “cool mix” release created to assist secure native types.

A Megadrought Continues to Strain the Southwest

Dry spell in the U.S. Southwest has actually continued given that around the start of the 21st century. Professionals have actually explained the extended dry duration as a megadroughtand it continues to position extreme pressure on the area’s minimal water materials.

NASA-supported jobs and keeping an eye on systems are offering water supervisors and other decision-makers throughout the Colorado Basin more in-depth info about dry spell conditions and how they are altering.

At the Colorado River’s headwaters, for instance, a control panel constructed around the Western Land Data Assimilation System (WLDASsupplies real-time visualizations of soil wetness, snow water equivalent, and evapotranspiration. The details assists support Colorado’s dry spell job force and adds to weekly U.S. Drought Monitor maps.

Satellite Data Helps Track Drought Across the Basin

Closer to Lake Powell, the Drought Severity Evaluation Toolco-developed with the Navajo Nation, permits leaders to track localized dry spell signs, rainfall patterns, and greenery health throughout tribal lands. (With financing from NOAA’s National Integrated Drought Information System, its adoption broadened to Oklahoma’s Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations in 2025.)

Another resource, the Colorado River Integrated Assessment tool, was established by Arizona State University scientists in collaboration with the Central Arizona Project. It combines enhanced modeling with NASA-satellite-validated measurements of snowpack, surface area and groundwater storage, soil wetness, and other conditions throughout the Colorado River Basin in a single interactive system.

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