Lake Powell is experiencing a serious drop in water levels, which has led to urgent discussions about whether current water distribution policies and infrastructure are still effective.

波威爾湖的水位正經歷嚴重下降，導致各界急切討論目前的用水分配政策與基礎設施是否依然有效。

Lake Powell is currently at about 23% capacity, containing 5.6 million acre-feet of water. This decline was caused by a lack of snow and record-breaking heat in March. Unlike in 2023, when spring runoff helped the lake recover, there has been no such increase this year. Consequently, the reservoir is expected to reach record lows by autumn. This situation threatens hydroelectric power, as the water level is only 37 feet above the minimum needed to run the turbines at the Glen Canyon plant, which provides electricity to approximately 6 million people.

波威爾湖目前的容量約為 23%，包含 560 萬英畝-英呎的水量。此次下降是由於降雪不足以及三月份破紀錄的高溫所導致。與 2023 年不同，當時春季的融雪有助於湖泊恢復，但今年則沒有這樣的增長。因此，該水庫預計在秋季將達到歷史低點。這種情況威脅到水力發電，因為水位僅比格倫峽谷電廠運行渦輪機所需的最低水位高出 37 英呎，而該電廠為約 600 萬人提供電力。

Government responses to this shortage have been inconsistent. While the US Bureau of Reclamation has taken emergency steps, such as releasing extra water from the Flaming Gorge Reservoir, some experts argue these are only temporary solutions. Furthermore, the seven US states that use the Colorado River have not agreed on conservation rules, meaning the Bureau of Reclamation may have to force water cuts. In response, cities are looking for alternatives; for example, Phoenix is investing in water recycling, while San Diego has suggested selling its unused water rights to Arizona and Nevada to reduce the overall demand on the system.

政府對此次缺水的反應並不一致。雖然美國垦務局採取了緊急措施，例如從火焰峽谷水庫釋放額外水量，但部分專家認為這些僅是臨時方案。此外，使用科羅拉多河的七個美國州尚未就保育規則達成共識，這意味著垦務局可能必須強制削減用水量。對此，各城市正在尋找替代方案；例如鳳凰城正投資水資源回收，而聖地牙哥則建議將其未使用的用水權出售給亞利桑那州和內華達州，以降低系統的整體需求。

At the same time, the Glen Canyon Institute has proposed a major change called the 'Fill Mead First' strategy. This plan suggests that Lake Powell should no longer be the primary storage site and that water should instead be collected in Lake Mead. This is because the Glen Canyon Dam was designed for water levels from the mid-20th century, but river flows have since dropped by about 20%. Because the dam lacks a low-level outlet, much of the water cannot be accessed. The proposal involves building tunnels to let the river flow more freely, which would turn Lake Powell into a backup reservoir for very wet years, although this would mean stopping hydropower production.

與此同時，格倫峽谷研究所提出了一項名為「優先填滿米德湖」的重大變革策略。該計劃建議波威爾湖不應再作為主要儲水地，而應將水收集在米德湖中。這是因為格倫峽谷大壩是根據 20 世紀中期的水位設計的，但此後河流流量下降了約 20%。由於大壩缺乏低水位出水口，許多水資源無法被利用。該提案涉及興建隧道以使河流更自由地流動，這將使波威爾湖成為極端多雨年份的備用水庫，儘管這意味著必須停止水力發電。

Lake Powell remains in a critical state, and its long-term stability depends on either a significant reduction in water use or a complete redesign of the regional reservoir system.

波威爾湖仍處於危急狀態，其長期穩定取決於是否能大幅減少用水量，或完全重新設計區域水庫系統。