Issues with plumbing at Glen Canyon Dam put Colorado River water supply at risk

Brenda Burman, general manager of the Central Arizona Project, a 336-mile canal system that delivers Colorado River water to Arizona’s cities, raised the issue at a meeting last month related to the river.

“We received some difficult news from the Bureau of Reclamation,” Burman said, adding that CAP would be working with Reclamation to investigate the problems in coming months.

JB Hamby, chairman of the Colorado River Board of California, said the dam’s design leaves open the possibility that huge amounts of water could be stranded in Lake Powell under low elevations.

He said an engineering solution would be the best way forward because other options could involve additional water cuts to states.

Doug MacEachern, communications administrator at the Arizona Department of Water Resources, said his agency was working with Reclamation to see “what, if any, technical fixes might exist.”

If federal officials can’t repair the tubes, MacEachern said his agency expected Reclamation to not place the burden of more water cuts solely on Arizona, California and Nevada, which make up the river’s so-called Lower Basin. Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming form its Upper Basin.

Separately, states and tribes that rely on the Colorado River are working on a long-term deal to share the dwindling resource after current rules and guidelines governing how its water is divvied up expire in 2026.

Environmental groups for years have cautioned that water levels at Lake Powell could reach a point where Glen Canyon dam can no longer be used for hydropower or release water downstream.

“What’s at risk?” said Kyle Roerink, executive director of environmental advocacy group Great Basin Water Network. “The water supply for 25 million people and major agricultural producers.”

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