Water levels remain low at Lake Powell in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area on April 30, 2026, near Big Water, Utah.

Spring is a critical time for the Colorado River Basin watershed, when snowmelt flows into major reservoirs. But after a hot and dry winter, the state of spring runoff is grim, especially at Lake Powell, where forecasters are predicting the lowest water flows ever recorded. 

The Colorado River Basin Forecast Center expects 800,000 acre feet of water to flow into Lake Powell in the period between April and July this year. That’s just 13% of the 30-year average, between 1991 and 2020. 

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Water levels remain low at Lake Powell in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area on April 30, 2026, near Big Water, Utah. 

What’s more, about half of that water has already showed up to Lake Powell, thanks to a record-breaking warmup in March that triggered an early runoff, said........

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