Drought-Crippled Hoover Dam, Glen Canyon Hydropower Plants Operating at Substantially Decreased Capacity
The post Drought-Crippled Hoover Dam, Glen Canyon Hydropower Plants Operating at Substantially Decreased Capacity appeared first on POWER Magazine.
The iconic 2-GW Hoover Dam and 1.3-GW Glen Canyon Dam hydropower plants are operating at substantially reduced capacity, paralyzed by enduring drought conditions across the West, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) has revealed.
Weeks after USBR on Aug. 16 declared the first-ever federal water shortage at Lake Mead, the agency told POWER this week that deteriorating storage levels at the Colorado River’s largest reservoir are posing hurdles for power production from Hoover Dam. The situation could have new implications for Los Angeles and other parts of Southern California, Arizona, and Nevada, which take the bulk of the allocated firm energy that the plant produces.
“Lake Mead is at its lowest level since being filled, resulting in a decrease of about 25% of Hoover Dam’s generating capacity,” Rob Manning, chief of USBR’s Public Affairs, said on Monday. While Hoover’s normal capacity is 2,074 MW, it’s currently 1,567 MW.…