Lake Mead

[Julian]

 

[adrianp89]

Building tons of farms in the desert, along with huge cities..... who would have guessed this would have happened?

 

[BlkGS]

Calling overuse of a man made reservoir a "climate crisis" is a big disingenuous.

 

[Julian]

Calling overuse of a man made reservoir a "climate crisis" is a big disingenuous.

One small part of the overall video was a reference to how much water is being pulled from Lake Mead. It wasn't said in reference to the climate crisis, it was simply a statement on supply vs demand on the Lake. Clearly dought conditions are the primary factor for lake levels dropping. I didn't post this video to discuss climate change though, it was interesting to see the Higgins boat uncovered and the satellite image of lake levels.

 

[BlkGS]

One small part of the overall video was a reference to how much water is being pulled from Lake Mead. It wasn't said in reference to the climate crisis, it was simply a statement on supply vs demand on the Lake. Clearly dought conditions are the primary factor for lake levels dropping. I didn't post this video to discuss climate change though, it was interesting to see the Higgins boat uncovered and the satellite image of lake levels.

I don't disagree, but they opened with it as a climate crisis and claimed what effects made man climate change had on it. Just feels disingenuous to blame climate change for levels dropping in a body of water that was literally brought into existence by man, lol.

Either way, this whole situation is going to play out a lot more commonly as out population grows, especially in areas without access to a lot of water. Part of me.is curious if they just said "we are stopping providing water to almond farmers" how far that'd get them. I'm sure there's data out there.

Supposedly they affected states only have a few weeks left to come up with a plan to cut their water use by some massive amount. I'm curious if they'll actually do it or will just throw their hands up and say "we need more water!".

 

[BlkGS]

Well, in typical fashion, because the answers were hard the states couldn't make an agreement and the federal government decided to do nothing. That will SURELY solve the issue.

U.S. spares Western states from Colorado River water cuts - for now

The U.S. government spared seven Western states from mandatory Colorado River water cutbacks for now but warned on Tuesday that drastic conservation was needed to protect dwindling reservoirs from overuse and severe drought exacerbated by climate change.

www.reuters.com

 

[giroux68]

Read a good article about a Mississippi pipeline. Easier engineering than the Alaska pipeline. No leak problems, it's water. Would fill Powell in less than a year. Mead in year 2. Any giving time of the year there is a flood issue on the Mississippi river. Seems like a no brainer considering how much food is produced from the Colorado. I fly over mead weekly...it's unreal how much water is gone!!

 

[BlkGS]

Read a good article about a Mississippi pipeline. Easier engineering than the Alaska pipeline. No leak problems, it's water. Would fill Powell in less than a year. Mead in year 2. Any giving time of the year there is a flood issue on the Mississippi river. Seems like a no brainer considering how much food is produced from the Colorado. I fly over mead weekly...it's unreal how much water is gone!!

Gotta say I disagree. Sounds like a colossal waste of money and bailout to CA. Seems to me the no brainer is to tell CA they're gonna need to use desalinated water for agricultural uses. They've got all the money, shouldn't be a problem for them. I'm sure they'll fire up some new clean energy to power it all too.

 

[giroux68]

True. But their AG need to fund the project. Desal pipeline to Powell? I'm not sure where the majority of the mead water goes...but I'd guess a lot goes to vegas which has filled that entire valley.

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

I'm not sure it is primarily a CA problem. CA has more senior water rights to the Colorado River than either NV or AZ. Here is an article that talks about how cuts will mostly effect NV and AZ.

I suspect that if a plan is reached it likely will be funded by the three states and the federal government. It was ludacris to believe that the dessert would make a good area for agriculture.

Interesting article yesterday on Israel. They plan to desalinate seawater from the Mediterranean and pump it into the Sea of Galilee which is actually a freshwater lake.

Jim

 

[BlkGS]

I'm not sure it is primarily a CA problem. CA has more senior water rights to the Colorado River than either NV or AZ. Here is an article that talks about how cuts will mostly effect NV and AZ.

I suspect that if a plan is reached it likely will be funded by the three states and the federal government. It was ludacris to believe that the dessert would make a good area for agriculture.

Interesting article yesterday on Israel. They plan to desalinate seawater from the Mediterranean and pump it into the Sea of Galilee which is actually a freshwater lake.

Jim

Unpopular opinion... I don't care what "rights" to the water CA has negotiated and bought (probably bribed, not actually paid for). IMO, any exosting deals are nullified by this situation. The states the river actually flows through should have exclusive economic zones for water within their borders.

One thing this all should make clear, our existing legal framework does not work for this. Our children's lifetimes will be characterized by fresh water being one of, if not the, most critical resources on the planet, and the way we have handled water up to this point does not work if water becomes a scarce commodity, vs an assured resource.

 

[adrianp89]

Israel already desalinates for 60% of their water. California should be doing the same.

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

Here's a wikipedia article on the Colorado River Compact.

As far as fault, my opinion is that CA, NV, and AZ are all to blame for the decision to promote growth (both residential and agriculture) in arid areas. More CA desalination of sea water would probably help and is likely a partial solution, and I think the cost should be borne by all three states.

Jim

 

[AZMark]

Gotta say I disagree. Sounds like a colossal waste of money and bailout to CA. Seems to me the no brainer is to tell CA they're gonna need to use desalinated water for agricultural uses. They've got all the money, shouldn't be a problem for them. I'm sure they'll fire up some new clean energy to power it all too.

There’s a few other states out here you know!

 

[BlkGS]

There’s a few other states out here you know!

Yeah but if CA were barred from using that water for irrigation or agricultural use, only for drinking water for.people, there'd be no issue.

 

[JDRacing]

I continue to be amused by the folks who are surprised by the dead bodies at the bottom of Lake Mead. It's the largest body of water closest to a city built by the Mob.

What did they expect to find down there?