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AZLD4Candidate

(5,568 posts)
Fri Sep 10, 2021, 03:22 PM Sep 2021

Depleted by drought, Lakes Powell and Mead were doomed from the beginning

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by JudyM (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: Wash. Post via MSN

For the first time, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation issued a water shortage for Lake Mead starting in 2022. Located between southern Nevada and northwestern Arizona, Lake Mead provides water and generates electricity for the more than 20 million people in the lower Colorado River Basin.

This shortage isn’t a surprise. Water levels at Lake Mead and Lake Powell to the northeast have already reached historic lows amid the summer drought. By January, the bureau projects water levels at Lake Mead to fall to 1,065.85 feet — nine feet below the first shortage trigger elevation. Levels on Lake Powell, which stores water for the Upper Colorado River Basin, are only marginally better, projected to be just 45 feet above the required elevation to produce hydropower.

The overall situation is not good, but why? This whole reservoir system along the Colorado River Basin was designed to get us through the drought years. Why isn’t it working? A glimpse into the history of the system, how it was designed and the impacts of climate change sheds light on why it was destined to fail — and why it may never recover.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/depleted-by-drought-lakes-powell-and-mead-were-doomed-from-the-beginning/ar-AAOiGVC?ocid=winp1taskbar



I said this on my official campaign blog We need to rework the 1922 Colorado Protocol or else the western states reliant on the Colorado River will dry up and wither
26 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Depleted by drought, Lakes Powell and Mead were doomed from the beginning (Original Post) AZLD4Candidate Sep 2021 OP
Yet they keep building houses in Vegas. N/t gay texan Sep 2021 #1
And here in Arizona too, even though they can't sell the ones they've built already. AZLD4Candidate Sep 2021 #2
And every new house has to have a swimming pool. StarryNite Sep 2021 #3
Of course... regnaD kciN Sep 2021 #18
Years ago I was in Phoenix for a week and was fascinated by... TreasonousBastard Sep 2021 #5
Retirees from the Midwest, Northeast.... SergeStorms Sep 2021 #21
I went to ASU and in 1994 this was a huge problem RANDYWILDMAN Sep 2021 #25
The cretins running yuma county not fooled Sep 2021 #12
1/2 of LD4 is Yuma County. Mostly western and Southern to the border AZLD4Candidate Sep 2021 #16
Brings to mind the olden days of Earth First! spike jones Sep 2021 #4
Seldom Seen Smith VGNonly Sep 2021 #6
Hayduke Lives! pfitz59 Sep 2021 #8
So what happens when they finally go dry? vercetti2021 Sep 2021 #7
The aquifiers get sucked dry pfitz59 Sep 2021 #9
Downtown Tucson is subsiding because of that. AZLD4Candidate Sep 2021 #15
It happens in stages . . . hatrack Sep 2021 #11
Excellent education on that silt backfill. Thx n/t marked50 Sep 2021 #17
I agree with Marked50 Prof. Toru Tanaka Sep 2021 #24
So IbogaProject Sep 2021 #14
oh no. What would happen if the federal gov't issued mandates, RicROC Sep 2021 #10
Local gov't will take care of that not fooled Sep 2021 #13
"BUT MAH FREEEEEEDUMB!!!" regnaD kciN Sep 2021 #19
We're under federal law here LeftInTX Sep 2021 #23
I was howling over this for a bit bucolic_frolic Sep 2021 #20
Powell will become a dead pool. VGNonly Sep 2021 #22
Locking JudyM Sep 2021 #26

gay texan

(2,405 posts)
1. Yet they keep building houses in Vegas. N/t
Fri Sep 10, 2021, 03:25 PM
Sep 2021

AZLD4Candidate

(5,568 posts)
2. And here in Arizona too, even though they can't sell the ones they've built already.
Fri Sep 10, 2021, 03:26 PM
Sep 2021

StarryNite

(9,366 posts)
3. And every new house has to have a swimming pool.
Fri Sep 10, 2021, 03:38 PM
Sep 2021

Whether the pools are used or not they still have to have water added to them.

regnaD kciN

(26,035 posts)
18. Of course...
Fri Sep 10, 2021, 06:21 PM
Sep 2021

…because no one is going to want to buy a house in such a hot climate without one. Even if they rarely use it, they want to know it’s there if they need it.

TreasonousBastard

(43,049 posts)
5. Years ago I was in Phoenix for a week and was fascinated by...
Fri Sep 10, 2021, 03:48 PM
Sep 2021

many things.

Among them were the lush lawns all over and the sprinklers they needed. Even then I thought lawns in the desert was clueless selfishness. I don't even see much sense in lawns here in the Northeast, but in tbe desert is just nuts.

Long time locals in the desert had thatched roofs with swamp coolers and raked the sand around the houses, with only desert plants. Seemed far more appropriate.

SergeStorms

(18,903 posts)
21. Retirees from the Midwest, Northeast....
Fri Sep 10, 2021, 06:41 PM
Sep 2021

etc. all wanted to escape the harsh winters they'd known all their lives. But they all wanted some of the comforts of home, and a green lawn was one they wouldn't live without. Groomed sand and desert plants just didn't feel like "home".

Beautiful inground swimming pools were an easy sell as well. Nothing but green grass and lounging by the pool in their retirement years. In the middle of the freaking desert.

After they died and the homes were sold to the next generation of retirees, they wanted the same things as the original owners.

A few saw the handwriting on the wall, and the ease of of sand and gravel lawns along with traditional desert plants, but not enough to reverse the damage already done. Not even enough to halt the depletion of the desert's most precious resource.

Like most Americans they used far too much, and saved nothing for the future.

RANDYWILDMAN

(2,645 posts)
25. I went to ASU and in 1994 this was a huge problem
Fri Sep 10, 2021, 09:24 PM
Sep 2021

and the local government did nothing about it. Everybody could see it coming but nobody wanted to do anything about it. It was all about kicking the can down the road

not fooled

(5,791 posts)
12. The cretins running yuma county
Fri Sep 10, 2021, 05:22 PM
Sep 2021

plan to pave it over, whilst lining their pockets.

AZLD4Candidate

(5,568 posts)
16. 1/2 of LD4 is Yuma County. Mostly western and Southern to the border
Fri Sep 10, 2021, 05:37 PM
Sep 2021

spike jones

(1,656 posts)
4. Brings to mind the olden days of Earth First!
Fri Sep 10, 2021, 03:44 PM
Sep 2021

VGNonly

(7,431 posts)
6. Seldom Seen Smith
Fri Sep 10, 2021, 03:48 PM
Sep 2021

"What we need is a precision earthquake"

pfitz59

(10,198 posts)
8. Hayduke Lives!
Fri Sep 10, 2021, 04:39 PM
Sep 2021

Love the book...

vercetti2021

(10,150 posts)
7. So what happens when they finally go dry?
Fri Sep 10, 2021, 03:58 PM
Sep 2021

Doesn't Vegas need Powell to power the Hoover dam? Like once that drops to a certain level, wouldn't the turbines shut down? Vegas gonna end up going dark one of these days. And could be sooner than later.

pfitz59

(10,198 posts)
9. The aquifiers get sucked dry
Fri Sep 10, 2021, 04:40 PM
Sep 2021

and then the diaspora

AZLD4Candidate

(5,568 posts)
15. Downtown Tucson is subsiding because of that.
Fri Sep 10, 2021, 05:36 PM
Sep 2021

hatrack

(59,446 posts)
11. It happens in stages . . .
Fri Sep 10, 2021, 05:20 PM
Sep 2021

As reservoir elevations fall, the amount of electricity the dams can generate declines. The higher the water column above each of the generator intakes (hydrologic head), the more power you can generate. Mead's design output is about 2 GW, but it was down about 35% back in July. Mead's decline has slowed, thanks to emergency releases from all the big upstream reservoirs - Flaming Gorge, Navajo, Blue Mesa and Powell - but that lost capacity won't come back until the water level rises substantially.

https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/lake-mead-level-continues-to-drop-affecting-power-production/

Same story at Glen Canyon Dam - level today is about 3,548 feet. 3,525 is the critical level. That's the point at which serious power cutbacks begin, because even though the nominal elevation of the power plant intakes is 3,490, lack of hydrologic head means that running the turbines entrains air bubbles in the flow of water, which can seriously damage the turbines.

https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2021/07/19/feds-release-water-down/

After 3,490, at which point all generation ceases, the next stop down is the river outlets at 3,374 feet. Below this elevation, the dam can't release any water at all, so the Colorado downstream dries up, and what's left of Powell begins to evaporate, about 8% of capacity, or about 1.9 million acre-feet of water.

Through all of this, the sediment that's been accumulating in Powell and Mead for 60 and 85 years, respectively, will continue to move downstream. Most of it is piled up at the upstream deltas where the Colorado (and for Powell, the San Juan) flow into the reservoir. In the case of Powell, it's estimated at 150 feet deep where Hite Marina used to be, and most of the San Juan arm of the lake is accessible only by kayak or canoe - it's silted in almost completely above the Great Bend.

Sediment isn't static. It's eroded downward by the rise and fall of reservoir levels every year, and flash floods can move spectacular quantities from side canyons and tributaries. Beyond that, what are called subaqueous flows move continuously from the faces of upstream deltas. IOW, a steady stream of extremely fine silt moves slowly across the bottom of a reservoir, eventually piling up at the base of the dam. As water levels keep on dropping, more and more sediment will be set into motion, and will keep moving downstream.

Except for flash floods, it's not an overnight process. However, it is inevitable. When Hoover Dam was completed, Mead could hold 32 million acre-feet of water. Its capacity today is about 25.8 million acre-feet. Same with Powell. When Glen Canyon Dam was completed, it could hold 27 million acre-feet of water. Today's it can hold about 24.3 million acre-feet. The missing 10 million acre-feet of storage capacity is gone - permanently, displaced by 10 million acre-feet of mud.

marked50

(1,350 posts)
17. Excellent education on that silt backfill. Thx n/t
Fri Sep 10, 2021, 06:20 PM
Sep 2021

Prof. Toru Tanaka

(1,924 posts)
24. I agree with Marked50
Fri Sep 10, 2021, 08:39 PM
Sep 2021


that your post was extremely interesting and enlightening. I knew there was silt buildup but I didn't know it has affected the capacity to such a degree.

IbogaProject

(2,694 posts)
14. So
Fri Sep 10, 2021, 05:35 PM
Sep 2021

You say that like it's a bad thing.

RicROC

(1,203 posts)
10. oh no. What would happen if the federal gov't issued mandates,
Fri Sep 10, 2021, 05:06 PM
Sep 2021

that homes in the drought areas cannot have grass lawns, which need to be watered?

not fooled

(5,791 posts)
13. Local gov't will take care of that
Fri Sep 10, 2021, 05:24 PM
Sep 2021

sooner or later, to allow development to continue. Water for more development available by restricting usage by existing residents.

regnaD kciN

(26,035 posts)
19. "BUT MAH FREEEEEEDUMB!!!"
Fri Sep 10, 2021, 06:23 PM
Sep 2021

LeftInTX

(24,560 posts)
23. We're under federal law here
Fri Sep 10, 2021, 06:46 PM
Sep 2021

At first everyone was pissed, but after about 20 years people adjusted. Even the conservative state lege adjusted.
Now even the rednecks don't seem to mind.

Local ordinances limit pumping amts via days and times we can water. People are issued citations for violating rules.

bucolic_frolic

(42,679 posts)
20. I was howling over this for a bit
Fri Sep 10, 2021, 06:23 PM
Sep 2021

Knew some people who went Mead religiously - like 45 years ago - and talked of it like a pilgrimage. I mean it never floated my boat.

VGNonly

(7,431 posts)
22. Powell will become a dead pool.
Fri Sep 10, 2021, 06:42 PM
Sep 2021

Not enough water flow, too much evaporation.

JudyM

(29,122 posts)
26. Locking
Sat Sep 11, 2021, 12:01 AM
Sep 2021

Alerted on for not meeting the SOP for this forum, and the forum hosts agree this is analysis.

LBN rules are more stringent than GD rules, so please post this in that forum instead. These are the LBN posting rules, found in the “About This Forum” tab:

Post the latest news from reputable mainstream news websites and blogs. Important news of national interest only. No analysis or opinion pieces. No duplicates. News stories must have been published within the last 12 hours. Use the published title of the story as the title of the discussion thread.

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