BOULDER CITY, Nev. – The Bureau of Reclamation today released the Colorado River Basin August 2024 24-Month Study, which determines the operating tiers for the coordinated operation of Lake Powell and Lake Mead for 2025.
Based on projections in the study, Lake Powell will operate in a Mid-Elevation Release Tier in water year 2025 and Lake Mead will operate in a Level 1 Shortage Condition with required shortages by Arizona and Nevada, coupled with Lower Basin Drought Contingency Plan water savings contributions, in calendar year 2025. Mexico’s water delivery, which includes reductions and water savings, is consistent with Minutes 323 and 330.
The lifeblood of the American West, the Colorado River Basin provides water for more than 40 million people, fuels hydropower resources in seven U.S. states and is a crucial resource for 30 Tribal Nations and two states in Mexico, and supports 5.5 million acres of agriculture and agricultural communities across the West. In 2021, in response to historic drought in the Basin, the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Reclamation initiated a historic, consensus-based process with the communities who rely on the river to update near-term operating guidelines for the river’s two largest dams – Glen Canyon and Hoover, and to prepare the region for the future.
Through the President’s Investing in America agenda, Reclamation is leveraging nearly $13 billion in critical investments across the west through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. These funds have helped the federal government secure a series of historic water conservation agreements across the Basin states, while investing in state-of-the-art upgrades to the West’s aging water infrastructure. Overall, investments will lead to at least 3 million acre-feet of system water conservation savings through the end of 2026, when the current guidelines expire.
While the Colorado River System continues to face low reservoir storage with Lake Powell and Lake Mead at a combined storage of 37% of capacity, investments in infrastructure improvements and system conservation have helped stabilize the Colorado River System in the near term and strengthen water security in the West.
“The Colorado River System is already showing significant improvements as a result of water savings from the historic investments in conservation and infrastructure improvements through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act,” said Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton. “These investments provide funding to local, state, and Tribal communities to tackle the climate crisis and unprecedented drought conditions."
Water conservation agreements implemented under the Lower and Upper Colorado River Basin System Conservation and Efficiency Programs, funded in part by the Inflation Reduction Act, bridge the immediate need to protect the Colorado River System while moving toward more durable, long-term solutions.
Additionally, Reclamation recently announced a funding opportunity for ecosystem and habitat restoration projects in the Upper Colorado River Basin to address impacts caused by drought. These funds help increase community and landscape resiliency while restoring habitats and assisting in species recovery.
2025 Operations
Lake Powell Mid-Elevation Release Tier: The Study projects Lake Powell’s January 1, 2025, elevation to be 3,574.08 feet – about 126 feet below full pool and about 84 feet above minimum power pool. Under the Mid-Elevation Release Tier, Lake Powell is projected to release 7.48 million acre-feet of water in 2025.
Lake Mead Level 1 Shortage Condition: The study projects Lake Mead’s January 1, 2025, elevation to be 1,062.32 feet – about 13 feet below the Lower Basin shortage determination trigger of 1,075 feet. Based on this projection, Lake Mead will operate in a Level 1 Shortage Condition. The required shortage reductions and water savings contributions under the 2007 Colorado River Interim Guidelines for Lower Basin Shortages and Coordinated Operations of Lake Powell and Lake Mead, 2019 Lower Basin Drought Contingency Plan and Minute 323 to the 1944 Water Treaty with Mexico are:
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Arizona: 512,000 acre-feet of water, which is approximately 18% of the state’s annual apportionment.
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Nevada: 21,000 acre-feet of water, which is 7% of the state’s annual apportionment.
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Mexico: 80,000 acre-feet of water, which is approximately 5% of the country’s annual allotment.
Under the Supplement to the 2007 Colorado River Interim Guidelines, in all Lake Mead operating conditions, the three lower division states will target a cumulative Reservoir Protection Conservation volume of 3 million acre-feet or more of additional conserved water in total for calendar years 2023 through 2026, with a minimum of 1.5 million acre-feet physically conserved by the end of calendar year 2024. This conservation volume of 1.5 million acre-feet has already been achieved as a result of investments made from the Biden-Harris administration’s Inflation Reduction Act. This conserved water is in addition to required shortage reductions as specified in the 2007 guidelines and water savings contributions as specified in the Lower Basin Drought Contingency Plan Agreement. Further, during calendar years 2024, 2025, and 2026, Mexico will take water conservation actions to cumulatively conserve an additional 400,000 acre-feet of water under Minute 330 which went into effect in April 2024.
The 2007 Interim Guidelines, the 2019 Drought Contingency Plans, and Minutes 323 and 330 expire at the end of 2026. A separate, ongoing planning process to develop post-2026 operating guidelines is underway.
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The Bureau of Reclamation is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior and is the nation's largest wholesale water supplier and second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Our facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation opportunities, and environmental benefits.
