Lake Powell is still more than 150 feet above dead pool, but it is only about 38 feet above minimum power pool, the line where Glen Canyon Dam stops generating hydropower. That is close enough to make the old "drain Lake Powell" debate feel less theoretical and more like reading the manual after the warning light comes on.
The lake is certainly getting low enough it seems to make sense to re-engineer it for what we now understand to be our ominous water-future. The Lake Powell/Mead system is critical to the West.
Dead pool gets the scary name, but Power Pool is where the bill comes due.
Previously:
• The Colorado River's last buffers: officials juggle shrinking reservoirs to avoid system collapse
• New study shows that drought could shut down the biggest US Hydro Plants in the next few years
