According to Becki Bryant, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the reservoir at the Utah–Arizona border dipped to 3,521.95 feet elevation on Friday, breaking the previous record low of 3,522.24 feet recorded in April 2022. The lake is anticipated to keep getting smaller until the snowfall runoff starts in the spring, she noted. According to the Utah Department of Water Resources, Lake Powell has a 22% capacity, which is 4% less than it did at same time last year. The average reservoir level during the middle of February is more closely 55% full. The dubious record was anticipated because the nation's second-largest reservoir is still suffering from the impacts of overconsumption and drought. The installation of a second emergency water intake system at the Glen Canyon Dam was recently finished thanks to a project carried out by the bureau and Page, Arizona, officials. The project enables water to be delivered to the neighborhood up to an elevation of 3,362 feet, or 8 feet below the level at which the reservoir is deemed to be a "dead pool." Utah is one of the Western states still looking for measures to lessen the effects of the drought on the Colorado River, as is the Bureau of Reclamation. The federal agency announced in October that it will take Lake Powell downstream releases into consideration. The Department of Interior also revealed on Monday that a program that rewards residents of Utah and other states in the Upper Colorado River Basin for voluntarily reducing their Colorado River consumptive water use will receive $125 million of the $728 million allocated for drought and climate resiliency projects. The governor of Utah, Spencer Cox, also expressed optimism on Thursday that California will join Utah and five other states in a deal to divert less water from the river. According to the Associated Press, the agreement would result in lower cutbacks in the Upper Basin as well as a reduction of around 2 million acre-feet in the Lower Colorado River Basin. In spite of the record-low water levels, the National Park Service confirmed this week that the Bullfrog North and Stateline Auxiliary ramps are still open. A little over 2.8 million tourists visited the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in 2022.

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