Satellite tv for pc pictures present the Colorado River earlier than and after the Bureau of Reclamation launched an enormous outflow of water from the Glen Canyon dam, elevating water ranges within the river.
Glen Canyon Dam kinds Lake Powell, the large Colorado River reservoir which lies between Arizona and Utah. Paired with Lake Mead, the reservoirs present water for about 40 million individuals.
Following a particularly moist winter, the Bureau of Reclamation carried out a Excessive Stream Experiment (HFE) between April 24 and 27, releasing as much as 39,500 cubic ft per second of water from the Glen Canyon Dam. That is quite a bit larger than typical. Often, water volumes launched from the dam vary from 8,033 to 14,631 cubic ft per second.
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The initiative helped replenish sandbars and seashores all down the Grand Canyon, carrying sediment down to those areas. The water additionally flowed all the way in which all the way down to Lake Mead, replenishing its water ranges barely.
Satellite tv for pc images shared by the NASA Earth Observatory present the circulate from Glen Canyon Dam earlier than and after the experiment.
In a single picture taken after the experiment on April 27, water will be seen surging from the dam and thru the Colorado River in the direction of Horseshoe Bend and Marble Canyon.
In one other picture taken on April 19, the identical space will be seen with out the surge of water.
Though there are small variations between the 2 images, edges of the Colorado River seem extra full following the experiment.
“Many of the adjustments seen within the river are resulting from larger water ranges related to the high-flow experiment,” a launch from the NASA Earth Observatory stated.
The Nationwide Park Service stated the experiment was “designed to maneuver collected sediment from the Paria River up onto seashores and sandbars in Marble Canyon and jap Grand Canyon to revive the Colorado River hall in jap Grand Canyon Nationwide Park. Sandbars function tenting seashores for recreationists, whereas additionally supplying sand wanted to guard archaeological websites.”
Sediment is necessary to the ecosystem on the Colorado River. Because the Glen Canyon Dam was constructed within the Nineteen Sixties nevertheless, the quantity of sediment carried by the Colorado River has gone down by round 95 p.c, Paul Grams, a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Grand Canyon Monitoring and Analysis Heart, informed NASA Earth Observatory.
Earlier than the experiment on April 19, Lake Mead’s water ranges stood at 1,047 ft. Water ranges now stand barely larger, at 1,051 ft as of Might 12.
Lake Powell’s water ranges declined barely in the course of the experiment by 4 ft, nevertheless it shouldn’t trigger a web change in its ranges general, the Observatory reported.
The experiment was solely carried out due to the extraordinarily excessive snowpack ranges seen this yr.
The southwestern U.S., which has been gripped by a extreme drought for many years, has acquired a uncommon inflow of rain and snowfall over the previous few months.
This has meant that there’s a excessive quantity of snowpack flowing from the mountains, which is sweet information for the area’s reservoirs. Nevertheless specialists have warned it would solely present a short-term resolution to the drought-stricken space.
Each Lake Powell and Lake Mead have seen extraordinarily low water ranges lately.
In summer time 2022, Lake Mead reached an all time low of 1,040 ft. Lake Powell additionally reached a low of three,521.77 ft in February.
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