(Washington, DC) — The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is pausing the emergency release of water from Utah’s Flaming Gorge reservoir. The bureau began the monthly releases in 2021 in hopes of stabilizing declining water levels at Lake Powell. But the water level at Flaming Gorge has also dropped significantly during that period. Officials say this winter’s above-average snowfall will allow them to pause the releases while looking for a long-term solution to declining water levels in the Colorado River Basin.