Lake Powell water levels could reach four-year high

Lake Powell could reach a four-year high this spring and summer as snowmelt supplements the reservoir’s water levels.

Lake Mead in Nevada and Arizona and Lake Powell in Utah and Arizona have suffered from a regional drought for years, and excessive water usage is slowly depleting the Colorado River faster than natural weather patterns can fill it. An above-average snowfall and excessive precipitation last spring and this winter have bolstered the water levels at Lake Powell and Lake Mead, and new data from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation revealed that the nation’s second-largest reservoir could rise by up to 50 feet by mid-summer.

“Overnight was likely the last decent snow of the year. Runoff will be starting shortly and the @usbr is calling for 20-50′ of rise at Powell. 2024 was a better than average snow year and lets hope for a cold wet 2025. Let the snow melt!” social media account @water-data.com posted on X, formerly Twitter.

“LAKE POWELL WATER LEVELS: The nation’s second largest reservoir is expected to rise 20-50 FEET by early July!” KSL 5 meteorologist Matthew Johnson posted on X. “The Bureau of Reclamation is forecasting the most likely water level to be around 3590′ (32 foot rise) with a maximum level of 3610′ (52 foot rise)…By late July.”

Newsweek reached out to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation by email for comment.

As of Tuesday morning, Lake Powell water levels were at 3,558 feet, 38 feet higher than this time last year. Last year, once snowmelt began in the spring, Lake Powell’s water levels experienced a steep increase, jumping from 3,523 feet at the end of April to 3,584 feet in early July.

If the lake rises 50 feet this year, it could reach a four-year high. The last time the lake was over 3,600 feet was in 2020.

The Upper Colorado River Basin, which drains into Lake Powell and Lake Mead, has above-average snowpack this year.

Earlier this year, the Colorado River Basin had lower than average snowpack, but numbers jumped over 100 percent of the average in March. Although snowpack levels are above normal, they’re still far behind last year’s levels, which were about 142 percent of normal in March.

Despite the drier conditions, the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center (RFC) posted that the snowpack levels were good news for Lake Powell.

“The snow feeding the lake started low in early winter (around 60% of normal on Jan 1st). But thanks to a wet winter, the Upper Colorado River Basin is now near 100% of median snowpack,” Colorado Basin RFC posted on X with a graph of snowpack evolution earlier this spring.

In a follow-up post, the Colorado Basin RFC posted a chart showing maximum Lake Powell storage over the past 20 years.

“Lake Powell is at 31% of capacity. Last year at this time, #LakePowell was ~ 21% of capacity,” Colorado Basin RFC posted at the time. “Inflow was almost 2x the normal amount last year which allowed the reservoir to peak at 38%. This year, inflow around 85% of normal will result in a projected peak of 37%.”

The highest Lake Powell water levels have been in the past two decades is in 2011 when the lake’s storage was at 74 percent of capacity. The last time the lake was over 50 percent full was in 2020.