Author Topic: Drought in the Southwest: watch how Lake Mead has shrunk in recent decades  (Read 48824 times)

Travoli

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1199
    • View Profile
Re: Drought in the Southwest: watch how Lake Mead has shrunk in recent decades
« Reply #105 on: September 05, 2022, 05:40:22 PM »
Water pipelines/plants will be the public-private partnerships (toll roads) of the future, IMO. We'll have water, but it'll be expensive. On the upside, there may be some good investment opportunities on the horizon.

https://ppp.worldbank.org/public-private-partnership/5-trends-public-private-partnerships-water-supply-and-sanitation





rcjordan

  • I'm consulting the authorities on the subject
  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 16262
  • Debbie says...
    • View Profile
Re: Drought in the Southwest: watch how Lake Mead has shrunk in recent decades
« Reply #106 on: September 07, 2022, 04:21:05 PM »
Temperatures smash records in US west as brutal heatwave continues
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/07/california-record-temperatures-heatwave-blackouts-sacramento-reno

We're still in a holding pattern of 85-88f highs with humidity to match. No sign of Fall.

DrCool

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 874
  • I know you all want to know what I think
    • AOL Instant Messenger - drcool1973
    • View Profile
    • What Does Joe Think
    • Email
Re: Drought in the Southwest: watch how Lake Mead has shrunk in recent decades
« Reply #107 on: September 07, 2022, 09:26:43 PM »
>US west

The past few days we have finally broken out of the 90s. Seems like there were a LOT more 90+ degree days here than normal. I think around 20 days in August were over 90 and we usually average 19 for the whole year.

ergophobe

  • Inner Core
  • Hero Member
  • *
  • Posts: 9254
    • View Profile

rcjordan

  • I'm consulting the authorities on the subject
  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 16262
  • Debbie says...
    • View Profile

rcjordan

  • I'm consulting the authorities on the subject
  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 16262
  • Debbie says...
    • View Profile

ergophobe

  • Inner Core
  • Hero Member
  • *
  • Posts: 9254
    • View Profile
Re: Drought in the Southwest: watch how Lake Mead has shrunk in recent decades
« Reply #111 on: October 21, 2022, 12:07:56 AM »
The Climate Prediction Center’s official winter forecast has been released, and it’s got some mixed news for California.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/noaa-releases-california-winter-weather-predictions/ar-AA13bUTs

Quote
You can see that dividing line in map released Thursday (below): Southern California is expected to have a drier-than-normal winter, while Northern California is a bit of a mystery. The northern half of the state has equal chances of being above-average and below-average for rain and snow.

rcjordan

  • I'm consulting the authorities on the subject
  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 16262
  • Debbie says...
    • View Profile
Re: Drought in the Southwest: watch how Lake Mead has shrunk in recent decades
« Reply #112 on: December 01, 2022, 05:27:24 PM »
>aridification

Drought threatens Colorado River with ‘complete doomsday scenario', officials say - The Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/12/01/drought-colorado-river-lake-powell/

rcjordan

  • I'm consulting the authorities on the subject
  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 16262
  • Debbie says...
    • View Profile
Re: Drought in the Southwest: watch how Lake Mead has shrunk in recent decades
« Reply #113 on: January 30, 2023, 03:02:50 AM »
Since 2002, southern Nevada’s use of Colorado River water has decreased about 26%, even as the area’s population has rapidly grown. Per capita water use has dropped 48%.

https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2023-01-29/colorado-river-in-crisis-cracking-down-on-grass

ergophobe

  • Inner Core
  • Hero Member
  • *
  • Posts: 9254
    • View Profile
Re: Drought in the Southwest: watch how Lake Mead has shrunk in recent decades
« Reply #114 on: January 30, 2023, 05:16:58 PM »
>> Golf courses were given water budgets.

Driving through suburban Las Vegas, one encounters lots of Sun City developments with golf courses with artificial waterfalls.



Coachella: Why Golf Courses Continue to Thrive in the Desert
https://www.yahoo.com/now/why-desert-golf-courses-artificial-130044826.html

"Though its population is much smaller than the Las Vegas area, it gets more imported water."

Short version:
1. if you sink your own well deep enough, you're mostly allowed to do whatever you want with the water.
2. restrictions apply to potable water, not non-potable water brought in from the Colorado River via canals.

rcjordan

  • I'm consulting the authorities on the subject
  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 16262
  • Debbie says...
    • View Profile
Re: Drought in the Southwest: watch how Lake Mead has shrunk in recent decades
« Reply #115 on: February 01, 2023, 02:44:13 AM »
As the Colorado River Shrinks, Washington Prepares to Spread the Pain - The New York Times

"The seven states that rely on water from the shrinking Colorado River are unlikely to agree to voluntarily make deep reductions in their water use, negotiators say, which would force the federal government to impose cuts for the first time in the water supply for 40 million Americans."

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/27/climate/colorado-river-biden-cuts.html

rcjordan

  • I'm consulting the authorities on the subject
  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 16262
  • Debbie says...
    • View Profile
Re: Drought in the Southwest: watch how Lake Mead has shrunk in recent decades
« Reply #116 on: February 02, 2023, 04:28:01 PM »
California's abundant snowpack brings hope that state's drought is over - Washington Times

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/feb/2/californias-abundant-snowpack-brings-hope-states-d/

ergophobe

  • Inner Core
  • Hero Member
  • *
  • Posts: 9254
    • View Profile
Re: Drought in the Southwest: watch how Lake Mead has shrunk in recent decades
« Reply #117 on: February 03, 2023, 02:51:43 AM »
>> 205%

The bigger question is what percentage of the annual total is that? Answer, 100%. In other words, if we add nothing to the snowpack and receive as much snow as melts off between now and May 1, we will have a "normal" year.
https://www.kron4.com/news/snowfall-hits-100-percent-of-the-annual-average-in-californias-sierra-nevada-mountains/

Whether the drought is "over" or not is a somewhat different question. This may be a brief interlude in a long mega-drought or possibly turning the corner on a decade plus of drought. Not likely the latter.

ergophobe

  • Inner Core
  • Hero Member
  • *
  • Posts: 9254
    • View Profile
Re: Drought in the Southwest: watch how Lake Mead has shrunk in recent decades
« Reply #118 on: February 24, 2023, 07:27:07 PM »
The knives are coming out....

California Wants to Keep (Most of) the Colorado River for Itself
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/23/opinion/colorado-river-california-arizona-drought.html

Quote
As climate change shrinks the river, California argues, it’s Arizona that should take the biggest cuts. If the water in Lake Mead dips below 1,025 feet above sea level, California’s proposal would cut Arizona’s allocation in half, but California’s share, which is already larger, would be cut only 17 percent.

Quote
A rapidly growing California could have locked up rights to the biggest drink of the Colorado River, but it needed the federal government’s help to build dams and canals — so it agreed to share the water with its neighbors.

For a good long time, that agreement was mostly theoretical. The other states hadn’t yet built sufficient infrastructure to access their share of the water. But by the 1960s, Arizona tried to build a canal to carry the river’s water to Phoenix and Tucson — and California fought hard to block it.

In 1968, California agreed to stand down, but only if Arizona agreed to give California priority if the river ever shrank. With no other way to get the water it needed, Arizona took the deal.

The biggest user of this water is to grow alfalfa, much of which is exported and the rest is used to feed cattle. It's a crazy crop to grow in the desert.

ergophobe

  • Inner Core
  • Hero Member
  • *
  • Posts: 9254
    • View Profile
Or maybe the knives will stay sheathed for another year..

California Drought Status Looks Very Different After Extreme Rain and Snow (Newsweek via MSN)
https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/california-drought-status-looks-very-different-after-extreme-rain-and-snow/ar-AA18aG8K

Warm atmospheric rivers in California forecast could spell trouble for massive snowpack (Yahoo! News via MSN)
https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/warm-atmospheric-rivers-in-california-forecast-could-spell-trouble-for-massive-snowpack/ar-AA188CTl?

Majority of CA sites already past annual average rainfall (keep in mind, that we are almost at the end of the rainfall year - March is the last important month, so this is expected given two huge storm cycles)
https://twitter.com/ggweather/status/1631326648321863681

Statewide daily snowpack readings (official March 1 numbers from manual surveys not in yet, so I assume this is based on remote sensing)
http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/products/swccond.pdf
http://cdec.water.ca.gov/snowapp/sweq.action

And this is cool - you can compare curves for the year with any other year, including record-setting 1982-83. In the southern and central parts of the state, we're close to those levels.
http://cdec.water.ca.gov/snowapp/swcchart.action
« Last Edit: March 03, 2023, 03:43:06 PM by ergophobe »