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By Joe Edwards
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Lake Powell is facing worsening outlooks as forecasters continue to warn of an unusual heat wave bringing record-breaking temperatures across the Western U.S.
Why It Matters
The Colorado River system, which encompasses major reservoirs such as Lake Mead and Lake Powell, provides irrigation for more than 5 million acres of farmland and delivers water to about 40 million people throughout the Western U.S., according to the National Agricultural Law Center.
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What To Know
Colorado Basin River Forecast Center (CBRFC) hydrologist Cody Moser said 2026 has seen the third-lowest mid-March projection on record, with flows into Lake Powell between April and July expected to total 1.75 million acre-feet, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Forecasters previously expected the figure to be closer to 2.3 million acre-feet, with below-average precipitation along with an anomalous heat wave responsible for the downgrade, Moser said, according to the outlet. The Las Vegas Review-Journal also reported that federal forecasters now expect inflows into the reservoir at 27 percent of the average, a figure that had been 36 percent at the start of the month.
"In what we call a normal year, it's valid to target April-through-July volume for your forecast," the hydrologist said. "But in a year like this, when we've been extremely warm and dry and we've got this heat wave coming, it's just shifting everything earlier."
Newsweek contacted the CBRFC for comment via email on Friday.
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The downgrade comes after projections earlier this year indicated that Lake Powell could drop to minimum hydropower level in December, potentially jeopardizing Glen Canyon Dam's ability to generate power.
As for Lake Mead, the National Park Service has announced the closure of several hiking trails as meteorologists issued extreme heat warnings covering the park and surrounding areas.
These included Goldstrike Hot Springs, Arizona Hot Springs, Liberty Bell Arch, White Rock Canyon and Lone Palm trails, which the NPS said would be closed "until conditions improve."
What People Are Saying
Peter Soeth, the Bureau of Reclamation's deputy chief of public affairs, told Newsweek on Monday: "Reclamation continues to monitor hydrologic conditions and apply the best available information to guide operational decisions that support the long-term stability of the Colorado River system."
What Happens Next
In an email sent to Newsweek on Friday, AccuWeather meteorologists said the record-breaking heat wave was intensifying and would spread east through the weekend and into next week.
The heat is expected to expand eastward beyond the Rockies into the Plains and Mississippi Valley this weekend, with cities such as Dallas possibly approaching 100 degrees, the outlet said. Fueled by a strong high-pressure system, the pattern is set to maintain unusually warm conditions across the Western and central U.S. into early next week, it added.
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