I live in Reno, Nevada. Our water does not go into Lake Mead. But on Tuesday, we had our first snowfall on the mountains surrounding Lake Tahoe. When I step out my front door, I see Mt. Slide and Mt. Rose. Mt. Slide has had large patches of snow all summer. I'm no meteorologist, but I'm betting (living in Nevada!) we are in for another well deserved wet winter. The only downside is that I have to scrape the snow off my driveway.
Hello there northern neighbor! That's definitely a good sign👍 We saw ski season up there went into late May at some places. That's pretty remarkable having only a few months between high elevation snow this year. Wheeler Peak in Great Basin also same thing- getting snow already. It sure is beautiful when it's up there on the mountain and not in your drive and on the roof 😂
Well done, finally a decision to clean up the wrecks. A shame that an opportunity was lost when the lakes were lower. Anyway progress is progress. Well done again. Hello from New Zealand...
Welcome back JBG! Thanks for checking again in from New Zealand😎 It's a shame the opportunity was missed especially since I was ready to volunteer. Of course now we hope the water DOESN'T go back down! Catch 22
An EXCELLENT, thorough update today! Your small team is the best! I didn't know that the flood waters in Las Vegas eventually drained into Lake Mead! Great! Your comparison image at 1:25 spoke volumes, as well as this year's water levels that have totally submerged "Skyward"! MOJO ADVENTURES is hands down the best resource for accurate freshwater resource info as well as your latest addition of these CHEMICALS and illicit drugs that are getting dumped into our water systems. Hoping they can figure out how to neutralize its effects. Also, 🤞🤞for another rainy winter and high snowpack in the mountains! From Gilbert, AZ-- Thanks so much!!👍👍
Appreciate the feedback and thanks for checking out another update! 👍 Glad you enjoyed the visuals, we've come nearly full circle since the worst of the drought. That rainy cool winter is looking promising from here 🏔 Let's hope we seize the opportunity over the next few years leading up to the new river compact!
The fact they took THAT long to decide that mostly recreational boat wreckage IS NOT historical is criminal in my mind. NOW they'll have to tag each wreck as a hazard until, hopefully, they are covered by enough water where only divers could find them. Just idiotic! 😒😒😒😒😒😒
Yep I feel the frustration! We could have pulled 2 of them out no problem last year on a trailer, but they are both underwater now. To be fair the new superintendent just started 10 months ago, so it's good to see he is taking action already. Perhaps the last one just wasn't interested in improving the park or reservoir much.
Classifying wrecks as historical artifacts when they could have been removed and then changing their minds when they can’t be removed is just the usual political BS.
Thanks for checking out the update and for the great flood footage you got from last month!👍 We enjoyed your live streams and all that especially since we never go down there anymore ourselves (jaded locals 😂)
This report about the forever chemicals also means they are finding their way downstream and into the Imperial Valley where they will end up in food crops. Nice....
You nailed it unfortunately. I believe that is what they meant by "bio-magnification". Some plants might filter the chemicals out by others may concentrate it. Of course the EPA currently has no testing or standards for something like that yet... we could all be eating it already.
Thanks for including Lake Powell it's definitely a cause and effect situation. Everything upstream effects downstream. It's a long food chain from north to south. Look up Flaming Gorge in Utah and the Green River it's part of it and a thing of beauty. I almost have 29 years in the water Utilities in Utah but I first rafted the Green River at ten years old with my Dad's company bellow the Resavor.
How cool, thanks for sharing! We are local to Mead but would like to continue documenting upstream and visit Flaming Gorge sometime also. We haven't been to the area. Rafting it would be even better! You got to experience it long ago and I bet it was even more natural and untouched back then. We will be visiting Powell again soon also for some updated shots. It's good to see viewers like you understand the larger reclamation puzzle and the balancing act between reservoirs. There is another channel on here we enjoy "Desert Rat Explorations" he does a good job covering Powell and you might find that interesting also!
I think one infrastructure and cleanup nationwide effort before all others should always be water quality. We also need a nationwide effort to educate people, once again, to not liter and illegally dump stuff.
Fabrats got one boat out of lake mead and it ran! It’s posted on TH-cam that’s a story worth covering!! They got in trouble for it even though they went thru the red tape! The boat is going back to original owner
Love the Fab Rats channel!👍 That was a great saga them pulling it out and refurbishing it then the owner took it out on Havasu. As you mentioned though it serves as a good warning why we don't touch any of them... the red tape! I think Fab Rats actually had permission from the NPS to remove it but then a totally different agency the DNR tried to get them in trouble for not properly cleaning the quagga mussels. The bureaucracy is ridiculous at these reservoirs 😂
You and me both! If there was only 1 single boat the NPS had funds to pull out it should be Higgins no question. Sadly last year when it was above water it baked in the sun 110+ for several weeks after being water logged for decades. I noticed parts of the wood hull that came exposed again turned to sawdust and disintegrated. Now it's underwater a second time and I doubt they'll be much left if levels drop again...
The fact that the a-holes wait till the last minute to clean up after it all covered again is crazy. Like moment it out of the water, it should be pulled. Granted, it's a hazard but at the same time a shelter for fish. But again, once visible, tagged for removal.
So to clarify, when you pee and flush those drugs you are taking are simply passing through. Then when you flush, our current treatment systems are not able to filter those out. The cleaned water gets pushed out into the water system and sent to the lake, where we again pull water from to clean, filter, add chlorine to then send back through to our homes. The real questiin is, if you got to the tap in your house and do a chemical analysis, are the same mix of drugs found, at what percent, and what if anything does that do?
I guess you could say supporters weren't all wrong then, since both reservoirs did fill to capacity and spill in 1983. Will we see that kind of winter again in the next 100 years though? That's the burning question...
It would be interesting to see water analysis station results from above Lake Meade (what's coming down from Powell and from above Lake Powell (what's coming down the Green and Colorado. We know there's a lot of mine waste entering Powell from the Uranium mines in Utah as well as spills from the San Juan. Just curious as to the sources. All that trash in the Vegas Wash isn't helping anyone downstream either.
Yes that's correct the Salton Sea is downstream of Lake Mead and was supplied by a farmer accidentally breaching the Colorado River aqueduct. It was never filled by the Colorado after that repair again, but I think the record rainfall this year did help raise it's levels much like Owens (dry) lake nearby. It was quite a year for rain and snow!
sounds great, the historical artifact thing is pretty funny, perhaps people could leave artifacts they are uncertain about at a drop off site so the people making those strange decisions can make more.
Why,when lake levels were low weren't the boats and other things removed. As too the drugs detected, that's a lot of drugs put into the system to be detected by volume
For me, a better measure of comparison of lakes would be PERCENT FULL. total content can be misleading if lake A has the same volume of water as lake B, but lake A is 20% full and lake B is 60 % full
Copy that, thank you for the suggestion!👍 The reservoirs aren't too far off in terms of total capacity with Lake Mead storing 26,120 kaf and Powell 24,322 kaf. I do include those numbers right under the water level graphic for each reservoir but I might have to make the figures stand out a bit better. Right now we're at 34% for Lake Mead and 38% for Lake Powell.
They generally seem to adapt very well to all the changes, there were a lot of migratory birds this year. I hear some folks who fish have been disappointed by the unseasonal weather though as it has affected spawns this year more than the level has.
In the lake still down over 100 ft there must be lots of boats and crash in the the distance between now and the hundred feet that used to be it could be cleaned up that way you take care of it now and then what if it goes down and clean up the rest of it
Yes you are correct on both accounts👍 "Full Pool" at Hoover Dam is 1,225 ft asl and the current water level is 1,066 ft asl. Plenty of historic lake floor still exposed and there is a lot of trash, boats, and marina debris in these areas. The problem is- now that the water has risen, a lot of it is harder/impossible to access by both land and water. Park Service doesn't have the resources...
As the supply of fresh water dwindles and the amount of various contaminants increases, the concentration in the drinking water will skyrocket. If we continue to foul our own nests, what will be the result?
You nailed it! That is the bio-magnification the researchers are talking about. We will be left with no untainted or uncontaminated resources and unfortunately it's just going to be more human disease and ailments that we can't ever seem to find the causes or cures for.
I’m 95% sure that blue jet boat used to be mine. I sold it without any seats in 2005ish. The only thing I don’t see is it had a tach in front of the steering wheel and not sure what the cylinder is one the starboard side. Eat the engine it had a gas tank on both sides if I remember right. I had welded a battery box in near the engine. I had also started to sand it down before I sold it.
How cool thanks for sharing that! I'm on a mission to find out the stories behind these boats. That blue one "Offy" is my favourite boat wreck👍 I wanted to pull it out last year. It was really sad to see it re-sink under water again. I'm not sure if anything could be saved mechanically but maybe the fiberglass hull could be patched and salvaged. It looked like such a clean and fast little boat! Did you build that big V8 or was it in there already? I appreciate you watching and commenting!
I've seen that recommendation before also, that could be a good idea with the rising waters👍 I've never been part of a water recovery but that sounds fun. I would have pulled them out by land and trailered them before...
The other thing that needs to be pointed out about pfas, is majority or people are exposed to it because of misuse of teflon coated cookware. People will burn pans which melts the tflon coating and it gets right in hour food. I learned this when i was in my 20's then chewed my mom out about it. Trying to cook every meal on max high, and looking at every oan she owns, not a single one has any of the coating left. We switched to bare pans and as long as you clean them as they are still hot, no issues.
Since the Industrial Revolution Revolution chemicals, food preservatives/additives were used to advance our conveniences but now the residues are found everywhere. It’s in our food chain right down to the microscopic organisms. This is proof why our health isn’t so good. The mountains in the surrounding areas do get enough snow fall and with normal rain and snow these lakes in the desert southwest should go back to normal levels.
I was always taught that "monsoon" was never used, except for India. We (westerners, but not on the Colorado) always called it flash-flooding and flash-flood rains. Have Arizonans and their neighbors called them "monsooms" since the 70s, my youth, or is it a recent phenomenon?
There have "always" been monsoons in the American Southwest. The requirements for being called one are a bit convoluted, but the Southwest had storm systems that move through that qualify. Not every such weather event with heavy rain in the region is a monsoon, but many are. The frequency and reach on the monsoons in the US does seem to have (anecdotally) increased over recent years but I haven't bothered to look at studies on it. But it certainly would contribute to people encountering the term more frequently these days.
Pretty cool and good video. I especially like the combination of charts and graphs sandwiched with video clips. Good job. I only found out I was interested when I watched your video. I don't take illicit, but I didn't care if others wanted to ruin their lives. After this video, I now think these idiots are harming my life. Our political leaders do not regard this issue as important. Your video is the first time I've ever heard that opioids get into our water supply, this affects all of us. The answer is not to harshen jail time for offenders but to control its production. Maybe make opioids safer, then legalize their use. You won't get a ton more addicts if they become legal, you'll just get less cost for prisons, national medical expenses, deaths, car accidents, etc. Idiots who use opioids won't increase, but everything else will get better. I don't know how to make this plan work, but that doesn't mean it isn't the right path.
Welcome aboard and thank you for checking out the video! Glad to hear you found this subject interesting👍 The more eyes we have on the issue, the more knowledgeable people become and the better chances we have to correct it. These water quality problems are being found throughout the US water supply and in many places it's just a matter of time before they manifest or are even tested for. Happy to see you are getting ahead of the curve! I share your sentiment on the illicit usage also... basically live and let live. You can't force a self-destructive person to change for themselves. But once it's affecting someone else or getting into another household unintentionally that becomes a whole different issue. You're right also in mentioning these issues don't seem very important to our elected leaders past or present. Remember how long Flint Michigan went with knowingly contaminated pipes before any basic action was started? At the federal level they are just finding out about these new PFAS contaminants and the EPA doesn't even have standards for them yet. It's like groundhog day over and over! You have some interesting ideas as well for the drug usage that we are seeing play out in other countries with complete legalization. An interesting experiment for sure that I'm not sure is the right answer, but I don't know if anything can be worse than doing nothing.
You actually read my comment. I'm impressed. I'll now follow you and will look for other videos of yours. (I'm unsure how to follow you because my only options are "thumbs up, thumbs down, share, Download, and ..."). Legalizing illicit drugs will NOT change their usage. Legalization will only put drug cartels out of business. I WON'T try illegal drugs (then get addicted) if they become legal. Cigarette companies get away with selling "addictive" chemicals in their products, and so do unlawful drug sellers. Legalization could remove these addictive chemicals. If we gave away the illicit drugs, then the drug cartels would go out of business. Mexican (and South American) drug cartels generate billions of dollars annually in revenue. Worse, drug users cost non-users billions of tax dollars in unnecessary law enforcement, prisons, car insurance, theft insurance, property damage, and mostly lost lives. So many things we could manage if it were legal. So many lives could be saved (both the drug users and innocent bystanders). If I ever get elected King, this would be tops on my agenda: to save thousands of lives, reduce the addictive properties of illicit drugs, and save billions of dollars. Federal Reserve data indicates that as of Q4 2021, the top 1% of households in the United States held 32.3% of the country's wealth, while the bottom 50% held 2.6%. That money needs to be better redistributed. I think that worldwide drug usage would decrease to near ZERO if we got rid of the nicotine-like addictive chemicals in illicit drugs. The cartels are NOT going to remove it. Only by controlling illicit drug production can we control its addictive components. Only then will the water you, I, and our babies drink to be safe.@@mojo.adventures
Good info again, thanks for the reply! You should see a subscribe button if you go directly to our page here 👉 youtube.com/@mojo.adventures I enjoyed reading your response again. That would be great if one of the effects of legalization would be putting the drug runners out of business. We have a lot of problems with that in Las Vegas. It's a smuggling superhighway for more than just drugs. Cutting off even one leg of their business would be a good step in flushing them out of this area. Lots of problems with illegal grows also throughout CA in the Mojave desert around Joshua Tree and even Death Valley! They dump toxic fertilizers and pesticides and leave trash in the washes once they harvest and move on to another site.
That's true for sure, it's barely poking out still a few months later! Skyward has become sort of an icon down there and people already got a bit ruffled when NPS announced they want to remove them. I think we should make a "Lake Mead Graveyard" and put all the boats on display, with a cautionary story, if available!
Why do so many people move to this area while expecting unlimited water availability. I don’t pine over the water availability if these residents as they have moved to a notoriously dry area and expect the federal government to bail them out for their improperly rash.decisions. Why should I pay for a personal pool without consequences
They expect it because they are privileged and have $$$. Lots of transplants came here in the last 5 years from neighbouring states and many hate the desert. But the more $$$ the community has you'll find the more green, pools, water fountains, and waste they have. We have VERY exclusive communities being built right now to house the new professional athletes and celebrities continually moving here. The city seems to look the other way for these users and the developers raking in the cash. Then they restrict and fine the lower/middle class to make room for the wealthy. There is most definitely kickbacks or a "good ole' boy" system set up...
The problem is that THIS superintendent says that the boats are not historical, but what if before the next huge drop in water levels occur another idiot supervisor decides that they ARE historical artifacts. We are not talking the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald here, these are individual pleasure boats that sank. Are cars that drove off the road into the lake historical landmarks as well?? It is absurd that these things did not get removed immediately upon their notice to park officials. I understand that some towns were lost when Mead was created and leave all those "buildings, cemeteries or whatever alone, but boats, cars and just plain trash, you should remove that stuff immediately upon notice without needing to get Congressional approval.
Good points! Definitely agree with you there. I will need to look into how long the park superintendents usually serve for. That could be a very real possibility though. Especially if the budget/priorities change between now and then. Another interesting possibility would be for the USBR to purposefully throttle Lake Mead inflows to drain the lake temporarily so cleaning could take place, while still keeping the level slightly above the critical/deadpool levels. That would be quite a feat of planning and coordination between state, federal, and volunteer level efforts. Thank you for watching and the comments!
You have to love government. Theyll ship our tax dollars off to a foreign country in a matter of days after an event, but can't figure out that pulling out fiberglass boats from a reservoir isn't disturbing historical artifacts 🤦♂️
Its called HungaTonga. January 2021 irrupt it underneath the Pacific and blue 2 1/2 km³ of seawater straight into the stratosphere, it will take two years for the majority of it to rain out in 10 years for all of it perhaps about eight years from now will get another Hunga Tonga.🍻
Good info thank you! 👍 We have another viewer who comments regularly with info on Hunga Tonga and I had just begun researching into it. Pretty fascinating stuff! It's hard to keep track of all the moving pieces in our water supply. In mainstream reporting you will usually see El Niño talked about as the reason for the unusual water year but no one seems to talk about the volcano explosion much.
I gotta call those numbers in percentages of specific medications and specific street things that some people indulge in not true! Nobody is constantly flushing these things down toilets and nobody is out there intentionally throwing these things in public water supplies. That stuff is expensive and normally gets consumed by the the person that purchased the stuff and the friends and family that they choose to share it with! In what world does it make sense for people to repeatedly purchase their prescriptions and/or street medications just to take these expensive items and throw them out into the cities/counties fresh water supplies, or into anything wet for that matter! People should demand testable, observable and repeatable evidence when a claim is made because it's these 3 things that are the foundation of determining what is and isn't real. It's the first step in determining if a claim made is factual. Facts will always satisfy these 3 criteria at minimum!
Great point! Another viewer commented the levels weren't reported in PPM or an actual amount. I will have to look further to see if they list the actual PPM level concentrations in the water. As far as the disposal, from what I understand I don't think the drugs and medications were being directly dumped into the water- but rather urine and waste from actual users. I've read that up to 50% of the meth consumed by a user can come out in the urine chemically unchanged. Some of it is also runoff & dumping into water sources from illegal manufacturing and flushing byproducts. Almost everything makes its way back to Lake Mead and the Colorado here in the valley... indoors and outdoors. I'm with you though, I think we need to find out exactly how much is there and how to keep it out!
Great ! - we have to worry about top of the ocean food chain toxic fish, birds, and animals - now freshwater fish, birds, and animals. Fentanyl fish, opium oppossums, and so much more
Got a laugh out of the "fentanyl fish" and "opium oppossums"😂 Those could be the mascots of a few poorly managed western US cities. In reality it's sad though... there doesn't seem to be much of anything that humans have shown to be good stewards of. The animals must think we're savages!
I find this to be ironically funny. You cannot pick up a piece of broken glass that might injure a person or animal, because it might be an “artifact” from the past. However the boats that actually tell a story are to be removed as they are “eyesores” this does not sound like a regulations type of thing to me. I see the boats as way more interesting, and thus, more… artifacty than a broken piece of glass! Silly!
Exodus 15:23-25 King James Version 23 And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah. 24 And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? 25 And he cried unto the Lord; and the Lord shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them,
Remove wrecked boats, will wonders never cease. Someone with a brain has the courage to make a common sense decision. Belongs in Ripley's believe it or not. Give that man a metal.
Is it just me? I don’t see the boat recks as eyesores. Having grown up going to lakes throughout the southwest dating back to the 60’s, these boats are nostalgic and each one has a story behind it. And during these times, I don’t want to see anybody touching them. Think of them as artifacts of a lost generation. And if that makes me a criminal, well, you can come on over and try and do something about it.
It's not just you! Now that NPS wants to actually do it I see several comments saying "don't remove the boats!" There is no question to me they have become an attraction for many visitors. I actually see people down there now walking around the beach looking for them. It's still a big *if* though... it remains to be seen #1 if the water drops again and #2 if the resources will be ready then. I hope you enjoyed the boat wreck slideshow I put together while the Superintendent was speaking, I tried to illustrate the counterpoint you are speaking of with those shots👍
That would be something! Unfortunately the arm of the lake that the bomber sits in is very deep. Even when the water levels were lowest last year, the bomber was still under 100ft of water.
Does this prove that we humans can't make the hard decisions to clean up the environment because of greed and no political will? Will Artificial Intelligence save us from our selfs?
It does highlight a lot of problems with not only environmental cleanup but the federal management of "public" lands which we are finding out aren't so public in this day and age. If someone had permission to do the actual cleanup work, it would be a federal contractor who does 1/2 the work for twice the price on the taxpayer dime.
Thank you for the heads up! I've heard from a couple people now who have worked in local water districts and they have shared basically the same sentiment. A bit disheartening... but I can't say I'm surprised. I do give SNWA credit for being on top of the issue and informing the public about it. Other basin states are leagues behind what goes on here in the community.
No doubt... along with the zombie cocktails they mix with Fentanyl. There is a big opioid problem here in Vegas that goes hand in hand with the darker problems that exist here in Las Vegas and we are on a direct smuggling superhighway from the south.
If you lake this video leave a comment
I lake alot..
I lake this information a lot.
Great job bringing these important issues to light. It's clear what you are doing is making a difference. Thanks for all you do.
I appreciate that! Thanks for checking out another update 👍
I live in Reno, Nevada. Our water does not go into Lake Mead. But on Tuesday, we had our first snowfall on the mountains surrounding Lake Tahoe. When I step out my front door, I see Mt. Slide and Mt. Rose. Mt. Slide has had large patches of snow all summer. I'm no meteorologist, but I'm betting (living in Nevada!) we are in for another well deserved wet winter. The only downside is that I have to scrape the snow off my driveway.
Hello there northern neighbor! That's definitely a good sign👍 We saw ski season up there went into late May at some places. That's pretty remarkable having only a few months between high elevation snow this year. Wheeler Peak in Great Basin also same thing- getting snow already. It sure is beautiful when it's up there on the mountain and not in your drive and on the roof 😂
Well done, finally a decision to clean up the wrecks. A shame that an opportunity was lost when the lakes were lower. Anyway progress is progress. Well done again. Hello from New Zealand...
Welcome back JBG! Thanks for checking again in from New Zealand😎 It's a shame the opportunity was missed especially since I was ready to volunteer. Of course now we hope the water DOESN'T go back down! Catch 22
Government at its finest.
An EXCELLENT, thorough update today! Your small team is the best! I didn't know that the flood waters in Las Vegas eventually drained into Lake Mead! Great! Your comparison image at 1:25 spoke volumes, as well as this year's water levels that have totally submerged "Skyward"! MOJO ADVENTURES is hands down the best resource for accurate freshwater resource info as well as your latest addition of these CHEMICALS and illicit drugs that are getting dumped into our water systems. Hoping they can figure out how to neutralize its effects.
Also, 🤞🤞for another rainy winter and high snowpack in the mountains!
From Gilbert, AZ-- Thanks so much!!👍👍
Appreciate the feedback and thanks for checking out another update! 👍 Glad you enjoyed the visuals, we've come nearly full circle since the worst of the drought. That rainy cool winter is looking promising from here 🏔 Let's hope we seize the opportunity over the next few years leading up to the new river compact!
The fact they took THAT long to decide that mostly recreational boat wreckage IS NOT historical is criminal in my mind. NOW they'll have to tag each wreck as a hazard until, hopefully, they are covered by enough water where only divers could find them. Just idiotic! 😒😒😒😒😒😒
Yep I feel the frustration! We could have pulled 2 of them out no problem last year on a trailer, but they are both underwater now. To be fair the new superintendent just started 10 months ago, so it's good to see he is taking action already. Perhaps the last one just wasn't interested in improving the park or reservoir much.
Bureaucrats!💩
Classifying wrecks as historical artifacts when they could have been removed and then changing their minds when they can’t be removed is just the usual political BS.
Great video
Thank you for this video! Good info and pleasant scenes.
Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for the feedback👍
Thank you for caring, and your updates!
You are welcome! We appreciate the support and leaving a comment 👍
When the waters gone! Science!
Thank you. This video is very informative, I appreciate the info and data.
Thanks for watching glad to hear it was informative!👍
Great job love the information
Thank you for giving it a watch 👍
Loved it!
Thanks for checking out the update and for the great flood footage you got from last month!👍 We enjoyed your live streams and all that especially since we never go down there anymore ourselves (jaded locals 😂)
Thanks for the update!
Let’s clean it up
Super Bowl 2024 will be in Las Vegas, will be interesting to see the contents of the water after that.
Good point forgot about that and it's coming quick! I wonder if the CSN researchers will do a sample then...
Great update!!! Thank you so much!!
You bet!👍
Nice one! thanks
This report about the forever chemicals also means they are finding their way downstream and into the Imperial Valley where they will end up in food crops. Nice....
You nailed it unfortunately. I believe that is what they meant by "bio-magnification". Some plants might filter the chemicals out by others may concentrate it. Of course the EPA currently has no testing or standards for something like that yet... we could all be eating it already.
Thanks for including Lake Powell it's definitely a cause and effect situation. Everything upstream effects downstream. It's a long food chain from north to south. Look up Flaming Gorge in Utah and the Green River it's part of it and a thing of beauty. I almost have 29 years in the water Utilities in Utah but I first rafted the Green River at ten years old with my Dad's company bellow the Resavor.
How cool, thanks for sharing! We are local to Mead but would like to continue documenting upstream and visit Flaming Gorge sometime also. We haven't been to the area. Rafting it would be even better! You got to experience it long ago and I bet it was even more natural and untouched back then. We will be visiting Powell again soon also for some updated shots. It's good to see viewers like you understand the larger reclamation puzzle and the balancing act between reservoirs. There is another channel on here we enjoy "Desert Rat Explorations" he does a good job covering Powell and you might find that interesting also!
I think one infrastructure and cleanup nationwide effort before all others should always be water quality. We also need a nationwide effort to educate people, once again, to not liter and illegally dump stuff.
Or intentionally blow train cars up full of chemicals that not only get into the air but the water supply too!
The Mob isn’t listening 😂
Fabrats got one boat out of lake mead and it ran! It’s posted on TH-cam that’s a story worth covering!! They got in trouble for it even though they went thru the red tape! The boat is going back to original owner
Love the Fab Rats channel!👍 That was a great saga them pulling it out and refurbishing it then the owner took it out on Havasu. As you mentioned though it serves as a good warning why we don't touch any of them... the red tape! I think Fab Rats actually had permission from the NPS to remove it but then a totally different agency the DNR tried to get them in trouble for not properly cleaning the quagga mussels. The bureaucracy is ridiculous at these reservoirs 😂
That Higgins boat speaks to me, it says save me, save me.
You and me both! If there was only 1 single boat the NPS had funds to pull out it should be Higgins no question. Sadly last year when it was above water it baked in the sun 110+ for several weeks after being water logged for decades. I noticed parts of the wood hull that came exposed again turned to sawdust and disintegrated. Now it's underwater a second time and I doubt they'll be much left if levels drop again...
That info is very scary!!!!!
The fact that the a-holes wait till the last minute to clean up after it all covered again is crazy. Like moment it out of the water, it should be pulled. Granted, it's a hazard but at the same time a shelter for fish. But again, once visible, tagged for removal.
So to clarify, when you pee and flush those drugs you are taking are simply passing through. Then when you flush, our current treatment systems are not able to filter those out. The cleaned water gets pushed out into the water system and sent to the lake, where we again pull water from to clean, filter, add chlorine to then send back through to our homes. The real questiin is, if you got to the tap in your house and do a chemical analysis, are the same mix of drugs found, at what percent, and what if anything does that do?
The initial support for the creation of the dam above Lake Mead was designed to be a backup for Lake Mead when Mead was at or near full pool.
I guess you could say supporters weren't all wrong then, since both reservoirs did fill to capacity and spill in 1983. Will we see that kind of winter again in the next 100 years though? That's the burning question...
The high amounts of drugs in the water could be deliberately introduced…
Thanks alot
Most welcome, thank you for checking out the update!
I am surprised that scrappers didn't comb over all the boats found in the lake. There is a ton of brass to be had and it pays well.
It would be interesting to see water analysis station results from above Lake Meade (what's coming down from Powell and from above Lake Powell (what's coming down the Green and Colorado. We know there's a lot of mine waste entering Powell from the Uranium mines in Utah as well as spills from the San Juan. Just curious as to the sources.
All that trash in the Vegas Wash isn't helping anyone downstream either.
They should have been building desired structure as well as clean up and removal of eyesores
I know this is a bit off topic but did this increase in water affected the salton sea as well as if I understand it is down stream from there
Yes that's correct the Salton Sea is downstream of Lake Mead and was supplied by a farmer accidentally breaching the Colorado River aqueduct. It was never filled by the Colorado after that repair again, but I think the record rainfall this year did help raise it's levels much like Owens (dry) lake nearby. It was quite a year for rain and snow!
sounds great, the historical artifact thing is pretty funny, perhaps people could leave artifacts they are uncertain about at a drop off site so the people making those strange decisions can make more.
Why,when lake levels were low weren't the boats and other things removed. As too the drugs detected, that's a lot of drugs put into the system to be detected by volume
For me, a better measure of comparison of lakes would be PERCENT FULL. total content can be misleading if lake A has the same volume of water as lake B, but lake A is 20% full and lake B is 60 % full
Copy that, thank you for the suggestion!👍 The reservoirs aren't too far off in terms of total capacity with Lake Mead storing 26,120 kaf and Powell 24,322 kaf. I do include those numbers right under the water level graphic for each reservoir but I might have to make the figures stand out a bit better. Right now we're at 34% for Lake Mead and 38% for Lake Powell.
Something I never hear discussed is the fish and wildlife while talking about the water level
They generally seem to adapt very well to all the changes, there were a lot of migratory birds this year. I hear some folks who fish have been disappointed by the unseasonal weather though as it has affected spawns this year more than the level has.
7:25 crap is dropped and washed down the drains, water is a near universal solvent so there you go.
What are those chemicals doing to the aquatic life? Are the fish absorbing it?
I think everything is absorbing it if it's in the water. By the time it gets to the top of the food chain it could be bio-magnified many times.
Great news; it means there is more room for bodies in Mead.
There's always room... at the bottom with the B-29!
How many sunken boats have been found in the bottom of Lake mead
No way to tell but it's a lot, Lake Mead is deep. All the ones in the video I find on foot in the shallow areas. Some are back underwater already!
Unbelievable they could not expidite the process to remove the boats before rising lake waters covered access to remove them!
In the lake still down over 100 ft there must be lots of boats and crash in the the distance between now and the hundred feet that used to be it could be cleaned up that way you take care of it now and then what if it goes down and clean up the rest of it
Yes you are correct on both accounts👍 "Full Pool" at Hoover Dam is 1,225 ft asl and the current water level is 1,066 ft asl. Plenty of historic lake floor still exposed and there is a lot of trash, boats, and marina debris in these areas. The problem is- now that the water has risen, a lot of it is harder/impossible to access by both land and water. Park Service doesn't have the resources...
As the supply of fresh water dwindles and the amount of various contaminants increases, the concentration in the drinking water will skyrocket. If we continue to foul our own nests, what will be the result?
You nailed it! That is the bio-magnification the researchers are talking about. We will be left with no untainted or uncontaminated resources and unfortunately it's just going to be more human disease and ailments that we can't ever seem to find the causes or cures for.
I’m 95% sure that blue jet boat used to be mine. I sold it without any seats in 2005ish. The only thing I don’t see is it had a tach in front of the steering wheel and not sure what the cylinder is one the starboard side. Eat the engine it had a gas tank on both sides if I remember right. I had welded a battery box in near the engine. I had also started to sand it down before I sold it.
How cool thanks for sharing that! I'm on a mission to find out the stories behind these boats. That blue one "Offy" is my favourite boat wreck👍 I wanted to pull it out last year. It was really sad to see it re-sink under water again. I'm not sure if anything could be saved mechanically but maybe the fiberglass hull could be patched and salvaged. It looked like such a clean and fast little boat! Did you build that big V8 or was it in there already? I appreciate you watching and commenting!
Couldn’t removing some of the boats now in water be easier. At least for those equipped right. Easier to get to and transport over the water.
While its wet is the best time to clean up those boats by refloating them . Cheaper to ..
I've seen that recommendation before also, that could be a good idea with the rising waters👍 I've never been part of a water recovery but that sounds fun. I would have pulled them out by land and trailered them before...
@@mojo.adventures I would tag them with a boy so they can be found later and removed
The other thing that needs to be pointed out about pfas, is majority or people are exposed to it because of misuse of teflon coated cookware. People will burn pans which melts the tflon coating and it gets right in hour food. I learned this when i was in my 20's then chewed my mom out about it. Trying to cook every meal on max high, and looking at every oan she owns, not a single one has any of the coating left. We switched to bare pans and as long as you clean them as they are still hot, no issues.
I think about the Teflon I have consumed over the years. Glad there are other coatings now,although I wonder about the same issues with the new stuff.
Since the Industrial Revolution Revolution chemicals, food preservatives/additives were used to advance our conveniences but now the residues are found everywhere. It’s in our food chain right down to the microscopic organisms. This is proof why our health isn’t so good. The mountains in the surrounding areas do get enough snow fall and with normal rain and snow these lakes in the desert southwest should go back to normal levels.
I was always taught that "monsoon" was never used, except for India. We (westerners, but not on the Colorado) always called it flash-flooding and flash-flood rains.
Have Arizonans and their neighbors called them "monsooms" since the 70s, my youth, or is it a recent phenomenon?
There have "always" been monsoons in the American Southwest. The requirements for being called one are a bit convoluted, but the Southwest had storm systems that move through that qualify. Not every such weather event with heavy rain in the region is a monsoon, but many are.
The frequency and reach on the monsoons in the US does seem to have (anecdotally) increased over recent years but I haven't bothered to look at studies on it. But it certainly would contribute to people encountering the term more frequently these days.
@@markbarta2369 Ah. The term IS more frequent now. Thanks.
I just tuned into this just for water updates since I am in PA---I didn't expect a climate or pollution lecture---THAT IS YOUR problem in that area.
Good observation 👍
Pretty cool and good video. I especially like the combination of charts and graphs sandwiched with video clips. Good job. I only found out I was interested when I watched your video. I don't take illicit, but I didn't care if others wanted to ruin their lives. After this video, I now think these idiots are harming my life. Our political leaders do not regard this issue as important. Your video is the first time I've ever heard that opioids get into our water supply, this affects all of us. The answer is not to harshen jail time for offenders but to control its production. Maybe make opioids safer, then legalize their use. You won't get a ton more addicts if they become legal, you'll just get less cost for prisons, national medical expenses, deaths, car accidents, etc. Idiots who use opioids won't increase, but everything else will get better. I don't know how to make this plan work, but that doesn't mean it isn't the right path.
Welcome aboard and thank you for checking out the video! Glad to hear you found this subject interesting👍 The more eyes we have on the issue, the more knowledgeable people become and the better chances we have to correct it. These water quality problems are being found throughout the US water supply and in many places it's just a matter of time before they manifest or are even tested for. Happy to see you are getting ahead of the curve! I share your sentiment on the illicit usage also... basically live and let live. You can't force a self-destructive person to change for themselves. But once it's affecting someone else or getting into another household unintentionally that becomes a whole different issue. You're right also in mentioning these issues don't seem very important to our elected leaders past or present. Remember how long Flint Michigan went with knowingly contaminated pipes before any basic action was started? At the federal level they are just finding out about these new PFAS contaminants and the EPA doesn't even have standards for them yet. It's like groundhog day over and over! You have some interesting ideas as well for the drug usage that we are seeing play out in other countries with complete legalization. An interesting experiment for sure that I'm not sure is the right answer, but I don't know if anything can be worse than doing nothing.
You actually read my comment. I'm impressed. I'll now follow you and will look for other videos of yours. (I'm unsure how to follow you because my only options are "thumbs up, thumbs down, share, Download, and ...").
Legalizing illicit drugs will NOT change their usage. Legalization will only put drug cartels out of business. I WON'T try illegal drugs (then get addicted) if they become legal. Cigarette companies get away with selling "addictive" chemicals in their products, and so do unlawful drug sellers. Legalization could remove these addictive chemicals. If we gave away the illicit drugs, then the drug cartels would go out of business. Mexican (and South American) drug cartels generate billions of dollars annually in revenue. Worse, drug users cost non-users billions of tax dollars in unnecessary law enforcement, prisons, car insurance, theft insurance, property damage, and mostly lost lives. So many things we could manage if it were legal. So many lives could be saved (both the drug users and innocent bystanders). If I ever get elected King, this would be tops on my agenda: to save thousands of lives, reduce the addictive properties of illicit drugs, and save billions of dollars. Federal Reserve data indicates that as of Q4 2021, the top 1% of households in the United States held 32.3% of the country's wealth, while the bottom 50% held 2.6%. That money needs to be better redistributed.
I think that worldwide drug usage would decrease to near ZERO if we got rid of the nicotine-like addictive chemicals in illicit drugs. The cartels are NOT going to remove it. Only by controlling illicit drug production can we control its addictive components. Only then will the water you, I, and our babies drink to be safe.@@mojo.adventures
Good info again, thanks for the reply! You should see a subscribe button if you go directly to our page here 👉 youtube.com/@mojo.adventures I enjoyed reading your response again. That would be great if one of the effects of legalization would be putting the drug runners out of business. We have a lot of problems with that in Las Vegas. It's a smuggling superhighway for more than just drugs. Cutting off even one leg of their business would be a good step in flushing them out of this area. Lots of problems with illegal grows also throughout CA in the Mojave desert around Joshua Tree and even Death Valley! They dump toxic fertilizers and pesticides and leave trash in the washes once they harvest and move on to another site.
Skyward is really hanging on to being seen for sure, personally I think that one and the Higgins should stay put, remove the rest.
That's true for sure, it's barely poking out still a few months later! Skyward has become sort of an icon down there and people already got a bit ruffled when NPS announced they want to remove them. I think we should make a "Lake Mead Graveyard" and put all the boats on display, with a cautionary story, if available!
Just summarize all this. Is the water level up or down?
About the same since September, up from last year, down from the year before that 👍
Later in the video they missed the chance to remove the waste for probably the next 10 years
You people are nuts! Clean this up!
Why do so many people move to this area while expecting unlimited water availability. I don’t pine over the water availability if these residents as they have moved to a notoriously dry area and expect the federal government to bail them out for their improperly rash.decisions. Why should I pay for a personal pool without consequences
They expect it because they are privileged and have $$$. Lots of transplants came here in the last 5 years from neighbouring states and many hate the desert. But the more $$$ the community has you'll find the more green, pools, water fountains, and waste they have. We have VERY exclusive communities being built right now to house the new professional athletes and celebrities continually moving here. The city seems to look the other way for these users and the developers raking in the cash. Then they restrict and fine the lower/middle class to make room for the wealthy. There is most definitely kickbacks or a "good ole' boy" system set up...
The problem is that THIS superintendent says that the boats are not historical, but what if before the next huge drop in water levels occur another idiot supervisor decides that they ARE historical artifacts. We are not talking the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald here, these are individual pleasure boats that sank. Are cars that drove off the road into the lake historical landmarks as well?? It is absurd that these things did not get removed immediately upon their notice to park officials. I understand that some towns were lost when Mead was created and leave all those "buildings, cemeteries or whatever alone, but boats, cars and just plain trash, you should remove that stuff immediately upon notice without needing to get Congressional approval.
Good points! Definitely agree with you there. I will need to look into how long the park superintendents usually serve for. That could be a very real possibility though. Especially if the budget/priorities change between now and then. Another interesting possibility would be for the USBR to purposefully throttle Lake Mead inflows to drain the lake temporarily so cleaning could take place, while still keeping the level slightly above the critical/deadpool levels. That would be quite a feat of planning and coordination between state, federal, and volunteer level efforts. Thank you for watching and the comments!
You have to love government. Theyll ship our tax dollars off to a foreign country in a matter of days after an event, but can't figure out that pulling out fiberglass boats from a reservoir isn't disturbing historical artifacts 🤦♂️
Its called HungaTonga. January 2021 irrupt it underneath the Pacific and blue 2 1/2 km³ of seawater straight into the stratosphere, it will take two years for the majority of it to rain out in 10 years for all of it perhaps about eight years from now will get another Hunga Tonga.🍻
Good info thank you! 👍 We have another viewer who comments regularly with info on Hunga Tonga and I had just begun researching into it. Pretty fascinating stuff! It's hard to keep track of all the moving pieces in our water supply. In mainstream reporting you will usually see El Niño talked about as the reason for the unusual water year but no one seems to talk about the volcano explosion much.
It needs cleaned up one way or another
I gotta call those numbers in percentages of specific medications and specific street things that some people indulge in not true! Nobody is constantly flushing these things down toilets and nobody is out there intentionally throwing these things in public water supplies. That stuff is expensive and normally gets consumed by the the person that purchased the stuff and the friends and family that they choose to share it with!
In what world does it make sense for people to repeatedly purchase their prescriptions and/or street medications just to take these expensive items and throw them out into the cities/counties fresh water supplies, or into anything wet for that matter! People should demand testable, observable and repeatable evidence when a claim is made because it's these 3 things that are the foundation of determining what is and isn't real. It's the first step in determining if a claim made is factual. Facts will always satisfy these 3 criteria at minimum!
Great point! Another viewer commented the levels weren't reported in PPM or an actual amount. I will have to look further to see if they list the actual PPM level concentrations in the water. As far as the disposal, from what I understand I don't think the drugs and medications were being directly dumped into the water- but rather urine and waste from actual users. I've read that up to 50% of the meth consumed by a user can come out in the urine chemically unchanged. Some of it is also runoff & dumping into water sources from illegal manufacturing and flushing byproducts. Almost everything makes its way back to Lake Mead and the Colorado here in the valley... indoors and outdoors. I'm with you though, I think we need to find out exactly how much is there and how to keep it out!
Great ! - we have to worry about top of the ocean food chain toxic fish, birds, and animals - now freshwater fish, birds, and animals. Fentanyl fish, opium oppossums, and so much more
Got a laugh out of the "fentanyl fish" and "opium oppossums"😂 Those could be the mascots of a few poorly managed western US cities. In reality it's sad though... there doesn't seem to be much of anything that humans have shown to be good stewards of. The animals must think we're savages!
I find this to be ironically funny. You cannot pick up a piece of broken glass that might injure a person or animal, because it might be an “artifact” from the past. However the boats that actually tell a story are to be removed as they are “eyesores” this does not sound like a regulations type of thing to me. I see the boats as way more interesting, and thus, more… artifacty than a broken piece of glass! Silly!
They’ll be ready to act until their not.
Drugs in the water in vegas... shocking 😆
Got to cover your drink in the club AND cover your mouth in the lake if you want to stay clean in Vegas👍
@@mojo.adventures 😆😆 thats hella funny 😆😆
Flushing the toilet.
Leave the boat alone everyone loves the boats just leave them be
OK but give us the drug levels in parts per trillion and if there is the smallest chance of them actually affecting humans.
Good call! I'll have to look further into the actual report to see how they are recording the sample levels👍
Leave people to Do something RIGHT? is always the WRONG thing to do! People WILL ALWAYS Make things WORSE! Look At the DRUGS in the WATER?
Wow. We wonder why we’re all getting dumber…but not anymore. Glad, I live nowhere near the human wreckage that is Las Vegas.
Yes they should have been removed!!
Did they find anymore bodies?
Swimming in dead body juices doesn't sound appealing.
No more found since the water started rising again in 2023. Still trying to ID the ones from last year. Makes you wonder what's on the actual bottom 🤔
Exodus 15:23-25
King James Version
23 And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah.
24 And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?
25 And he cried unto the Lord; and the Lord shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them,
So free meth is in the water?
I appreciate you trying to find the positive in this situation😂 It is indeed free... with a complimentary side of raw sewage 💩
Remove wrecked boats, will wonders never cease. Someone with a brain has the courage to make a common sense decision. Belongs in Ripley's believe it or not. Give that man a metal.
Is it just me? I don’t see the boat recks as eyesores.
Having grown up going to lakes throughout the southwest dating back to the 60’s, these boats are nostalgic and each one has a story behind it.
And during these times, I don’t want to see anybody touching them. Think of them as artifacts of a lost generation. And if that makes me a criminal, well, you can come on over and try and do something about it.
It's not just you! Now that NPS wants to actually do it I see several comments saying "don't remove the boats!" There is no question to me they have become an attraction for many visitors. I actually see people down there now walking around the beach looking for them. It's still a big *if* though... it remains to be seen #1 if the water drops again and #2 if the resources will be ready then. I hope you enjoyed the boat wreck slideshow I put together while the Superintendent was speaking, I tried to illustrate the counterpoint you are speaking of with those shots👍
Yes by all means, get that WWII plane out of there!
That would be something! Unfortunately the arm of the lake that the bomber sits in is very deep. Even when the water levels were lowest last year, the bomber was still under 100ft of water.
I was being sarcastic. I guess I could have worded it better. @@mojo.adventures
Garbage as historical artifacts?? ......yep, this is the current America.
Does this prove that we humans can't make the hard decisions to clean up the environment because of greed and no political will? Will Artificial Intelligence save us from our selfs?
It does highlight a lot of problems with not only environmental cleanup but the federal management of "public" lands which we are finding out aren't so public in this day and age. If someone had permission to do the actual cleanup work, it would be a federal contractor who does 1/2 the work for twice the price on the taxpayer dime.
I worked for 29 years for the SNWA TAKE anything they say, with a huge grain of salt
Thank you for the heads up! I've heard from a couple people now who have worked in local water districts and they have shared basically the same sentiment. A bit disheartening... but I can't say I'm surprised. I do give SNWA credit for being on top of the issue and informing the public about it. Other basin states are leagues behind what goes on here in the community.
BS about historic trash !!!
I bet there is Fentanyl in the water as well.
No doubt... along with the zombie cocktails they mix with Fentanyl. There is a big opioid problem here in Vegas that goes hand in hand with the darker problems that exist here in Las Vegas and we are on a direct smuggling superhighway from the south.