California politicians suck at managing infrastructure to correct this problem. Even if Lake Mead is save for now we will have the same issues in a few years because of a lack of planning.
@@67FORDTRUCKF250 bs , Phoenix uses less water now than 50 years ago despite being 3x the size. Golf courses use Grey water. Nobody manages water better than AZ...we don't waste water on lawns. I haven't watered the plants in my yard for 3 years
Back in 1983 my wife and I (with our two teenage sons) took a vacation to Vegas and the Grand Canyon. We also decided to visit Hoover dam. We did not know it was overflowing through both spillways at that time. It was the first time in the dam's history that the spillways were actually put to use (besides initial testing back in the 1930's). We had no way to know back in 1983 that Lake Mead would never be that full again. We were absolutely amazed at the sight of all that water gushing down the spillways. I would love to see those spillways gushing again.
Back in those days one got to Vegas from Arizona by crossing over the top of the dam (15 mph speed limit) I saw the water overflowing the spillway and thought that the overflow happened every 4 or 5 years. Only when the internet came along did I realize that this was a rare event.
@@williamolliges2622 I never heard of any trout fishery collapse and they are not endangered. Regardless, you control the outflow temperature. If it is colder from deep water, mix some top water in outflows with side gate opening.
Reservoirs in California have been at full capacity this winter. The problem is there is not enough capacity to provide water during the summer month. California has been dumping billions of gallons of water into the ocean because of the lack of capacity in reservoirs. In summer the state will then draw from Lake Mead to make up for the difference even though there has been more than enough rain in California. Nevada is taking is very little of Lake Mead's water and is the only state to have reduced its water consumption.
Shame they can’t backflow up to mead when there’s extra at oroville, damn gravity. If remotely possible it’d be nice if they had the ability to at least pump 5- 1:59 10K cfs back up but I’m sure that’d take a lot of energy
What ? There hasn’t been any water in those lakes since 2019 as for this year, yes water will be dumped but nobody saw this coming this year. 100 yr winter as they would say. You know what happens when lakes go dry ? Lake mead supplies socal not NorCal. SoCal will continue to drain lake mead this year. Rains or not. And , yes mismanaged for 30+ years. Nevada uses 8% of lake mead. Arizona and Mexico take more. New Mexico gets few % too.
Until water usage changes, this cycle of drought will be back. One can only take so much water out and not expect it to dwindle. This is a very good report!
The population has quadrupled since roughly 1920, the demand surpasses supply, the water is roughly still the same is it has been for thousands of years
@@wowguy3562 Well, at least the last 300 years-based on the "300 year study". But regardless, I'm assuming when you say the population has "quadrupled", you're alluding to the population of the southwest. Well, that population uses "potable" water, and potable water is less than 12% per the USGS. So in reality, that "population" out west isn't really where the water is being used.
@@wowguy3562 The population of a state has very little to do with anything. The water rights were largely given to agricultural producers, who are the first rights holders, and the majority of them happen to be in Calif. If Nevada as an example, had a better climate for Ag production, it would have received a far larger allocation that it received. Population was irrelevant.
If you look at the Lake Mead Water Database the water level went up by 4 feet since January and today is down by 1 foot. The outflow is almost always higher than the inflow. As long as the outflow is greater there is no way that the lake will fill up anytime soon.
Fact: we were in Grand Junction, CO late August 2022 and the Colorado River was still flowing band-to-bank towards Utah. Your video is correct, the misuse of water upstream is a big problem.
Misuse primarily happens in the Lower Basin states, NOT upstream. The continued development and maintenance of real estate, luxury accommodations, resorts, marketing that exacerbates overpopulation, and inappropriately developed and expanded agriculture in the Lower Basin states is the reason for overuse of an always finite resource. The profiteering of land developers, resorts, and agriculture in the desert are overwhelmingly the greatest contributors to the problem of Colorado River water overuse in the Lower Basin.
Instead of wasting $50 billion on a commuter rail that is 200% over budget already and only 1/4 complete. They could of built reservoirs and tunnel systems to capture all this water instead of letting it flow into the ocean.........Newsome must go.
Snow pack in California has no impact on Mead. It’s totally contingent on The upper basin of the Colorado drainage. Colorado , Wyoming, Utah , and New Mexico. The upper basin states account for almost all of its water. The lower basin states, Arizona, Nevada, and California comprise the the most users of the water.
@@yosef6664 It's amazing how many people don't understand this. I would say that a large majority think that rain and snow falling in CA will directly restore Mead and Powell.
If they were truly reputable, they would talk less about the "six years", and more about reducing usage, since the Colorado has a 2maf deficit in the system. Of course, the recent "500 plan" reduces usage by 500,000af equally in the upper & lower basins. Still another 1maf needed, but a start. The Colorado flowed above it's 300 year average from 2000-2018, yet the reservoir(s) still declined, so six years won't do much until more reductions are found. This is not about precipitation, but usage. The meteorological drought starting in 2019(made by NOAA) only exacerbates the water issues, it doesn't create them.
The three biggest reasons Lake Mead had been so depleted are the record population and economic growth of Las Vegas, record heat the past few years, which increased water consumption, and persistent drought. It's also true that this lake had been drawn down to feed downstream river and reservoirs, but had there not been the above 3 factors I believe Mead would not have been so depleted.
Of course it is...The Colorado Rockies have over 150% of normal snowfall as well.....Lake Mead hasn't even seen the runoff yet we get in the spring from the Rockies....
The overall trend, over the last two decades, is dropping levels reflected at Powell and Hoover reservoirs. The region is not out of the woods insofar as water is concerned
One item not mentioned it that all of the areas that normally take from Lake Mead have also been getting a lot of rain, so many that need for water for landscaping/farming/ etc will be drastically reduced this year. this will also halp fill Lake Mead.
@@redhorsereincarnated And there was 24 million people in California in the 70’s. Water management and the power grid have been left in decline while the population swelled to 40 million. This is what one party rule gets you for your tax dollars while money is wasted and misused everywhere you look.
You didn't take into account the possibility of more water being retained at Lake Powell like they did last year which will have a negative affect on Lake Mead.
Everybody must remember to continue to conserve water. This does not mean that we can just have a good old time and waste it because we may not get these rains next year or the next year or the next year!
If you look at the lake level chart, the level has dropped the last few weeks. And this is not unusual for this time of year. The atmospheric river impacts the west coast, but the Colorado River system is dependent on a watershed that is far to the east, mostly in the Rockies. We'll see later if Powell and Mead are impacted by winter snows and spring rains in that area.
@@donaldkasper8346 I live in Southern Utah and St George and Santa Clara water levels were flooding we had 2 wks of rain Southern California has rain too. The Wasatch mountains has a glacier too. Utah fills up the Colorado River
This year's record-setting snowpack will raise the level of Lake Powell by almost 50 feet but even this is no remedy for the disaster at Lake Mead. CA should have been made to supply Lake Mead directly from their spillways.
The title is misleading . The lake is not fed by “CA floods”, but by the Colorado river / Rocky mtns🏔️ /surrounding basin , (like the video say’s itself).
I saw a video a while ago that showed how part of the headwaters of the Colorado River have actually been redirected to flow to the East side of the Rockies with a construction called the Grand Ditch.
Have you looked at the water levels at Lake mead gone up from 1045 to 1047 since January 1st whole 2 feet. Colorado the main source of snow for the Colorado river snowpack is over by 150% in southern Colorado like the San Juan, Animas, and San Miguel, Dolores mountains. This won't amount to more than few hundred feet in lake mead at most.
the Colorado has been over allocated for 100 years, and of course there are just too many people and too much agriculture dependent on its waters. its past time for the Dept of Interior to step up and say its going to be re-allocated like this! " everybody is gonna be cut back and nobody is going to like it! too bad, so sad ! there is just not enuf water to go around !"
@@kino2450 They don't have the pollical power to do it. Now we have WallStreet investors buying up cheap farmland just to sell the water rights. That should be illegal IMO if you're not going to farm you don't get to use the water for something else.
Could a prolonged rainstorm have had the same effect or did it take an "Atmospheric" rainstorm to make the lake level rise? As a side note, what are the potential future problems in creating a man made lake in the middle of a desert?
desert sand isn't right type substrate, doesn't hold water. Best example... When the palm shaped famous houding island in UAE was planned with all the sand of surrounding environment,the Dutch engineers had to inport all of the filler sand bc desertsand won't conform and doesn't stick togetger. Secondly arid ckimates Re known for lack of rainfall ehich limate is not condusive for expectations of rain filling up man made lakes. Thrid,there is no way to fivert exisiting river wzters bc they are slready overused and critically so low to attempt to fo so would leave the 5 to 7 states dependebt on Mead and Powell systems would further deplete the historically low levels. Lastly, wzter right laws and arbitrary coopting any water ,rain fall above or below ground resources would violate federal and State laws.
Nevada is a Desert. You have to live there several years to appreciate that. A man made Oasis. The arid climate is still that. They need a a steady stream of h2o. Finding it.?!🔥🥂📜🛎️
You have no clue. Floods in California do not pour into Arizona or Nevada, where Mead is. Mead and the SOUTH-FLOWING Colorado river are fed by the snowpack in the Colorado and Gunnison basins. Both currently have above-normal snowpack, but only 20 to 40 percent more than normal. The recent atmospheric rivers did almost nothing to affect Powel or Mead. As it stands today, Mead is still only at about 1/3 of its capacity.
True. But the Imperial Valley relies significantly on Colorado River water-which passes thru Lake Mead. Down flow water levels are kept high to accommodate this. Lower Colorado River, Lake Havasu, and Baja California use Lake Mead water. Some comes from lower CA reservoirs too, but this still depleted Lake Mead. Rain feeding canals feeding reservoirs in CA help the overall situation.
Not happy to see CA open all their spillways to send millions of acre feet that should be routed to Lake Mead into the Pacific Ocean. CA draws from the Colorado River so why aren't they supplying the Colorado River now that they have excessive water?
I don't understand, why the enourmous recent rainfall didn't help more? There are two things to do now: 1. with so many sand banks laying dry now, wouldn't it be wise to dig the reservoirs deeper? 2. couldn't water tunnels be dug through the Rockies, to capture some of the excessive rainfall of California and reroute it inlands?
All the CA water never makes it into Lake Mead. Different watersheds at play. Lake Mead has Lake Powell above it, and that lake is at only 25% capacity. Above Powell are huge reservoirs that are also very low (Near Gunnison, CO, also Flaming Gorge).The entire system is thirsty.
It’s not rainfall that fills the dams such as mead it’s mountain snowfall. With snow levels well above average mead, glen canyon etc will be back to normal levels. Local rainfall does very little overall
@@jimmoses6617 too much of the precious rainfall is flowing off into the Pacific. needs a big engineering solution. not just strictly managing the deficit, only! exceeds a single state's capability.
In another video, an hydrologist indicated the region would need another 5 winters of atmospheric rivers and over average snow packs to bring the level of Lake Mead to an acceptable level. This is simply a blio delaying the inevitable.
Thanks...someone who understand logic and reason. People are jumping up and down about a wet year, after 30 years of drought. It would take 30 years of this before we could actually claim things had returned to normal.
If you look at the Green river and the Colorado river where they join, they are about equal in size. Time to give Wyoming and Utah a little credit for the water in Powell and Mead.
85% of Lake Mead water goes to growing food (as it should). Very, very little goes to golf courses, though they are the most visible and hence catch the most blame.
It's nature, people worry about saving the planet. They need worry about saving themselves. This planet was here, long before we arrived. And will be here long after.
Wish he would state what mismanagement has occurred. Not one mention of drought conditions or rising mean temperatures in southern Nevada, which causes more evaporation from the lake.
the global rising temperature should over a little delay also cause the ocean temperature to go up, and increase evaporation and rainfall. The problem is to get the necessary rainfall inland. it doesn't help Nevada and Arizona if all the plenty rain falls into the Pacific!
@@konradcomrade4845 I don't know whether the same climate impacts would result in greater reliable precip over the Colorado watershed, thus guaranteeing ample water to those that rely on Powell and Mead water. Evaporation to the negative has increased year by year. Time will tell.
This windfall is going to be squandered by the incompetent local governments. Someone needs to hold their feet to the fire about improving water management.
If you state that the issue is mismanagement, I would like to point one thing out, we have the same amount of water basically. 100 years ago there were approx. 2 billion people in the world, we just passed 8 billion people. More people are using the limited but same amount of water there has always been, that, is where the water is going, to crops, people, and a lot of waste
Please don’t ignore the aspect of weather modification which is an enormously important factor in the drought. They literally blocked all of our rain for years on end, that was NOT natural.
What we are seeing here is only a band-aid fix. Until management gets their heads out of the sand, AND consistent rains return, this situation of extremely low water levels will return.
Also water from the Green River, that starts up by Pinedale Wyoming, and snow pack there has been down for many years. And yes, come on, irrigating crops in a desert, whos bright idea what that. And now with water levels rising, its time to start major water conservation methods down stream. I'm glad I don't have to rely on water from Lake Mead.
The bright idea of watering crops in the desert comes from the fact that 90% of the USA cannot grow crops 5 to 6 months a year, and since 1950 90% of our crops come from the SW united states. If this can not continue expect to pay 4 to 5 times your average produce bill as it will need to be imported.
@@FastEddy301 So when the water goes back to a trickle, will you tell all those people in southern CA and Arizona. Sorry folks, water is being used to raise crops
farming in a desert is very productive if water is available. The problem has to be tackled from two sides: less demand or more supply! if possible I would favor the latter.
"Mismanagement"? Who are you referring to? There isn't a drop of Colorado River water that is "mismanaged". There's a saying in the west since the 1800's: "Whisky is for drinking. Water is for fighting." Be careful what you say about water out here son, especially in that fairy British accent 🙄
I wish half the snowpack in the Sierra could be sent to the central and southern Rockies.The intermountain west and Rockies have been dry as a popcorn fart since the late 80's. THAT is were the huge snows are needed.
it is because the mountains are an obstacle to the flow of humid air inland. The resistive situation is increased by the many wind turbines on the hills and mountains of CA, which brake the winds even more! When a stream of humid Pacific air approaches, the wind turbines should be switched to blowing mode, so they could help transport humidity over the mountains. Or the conventional, maybe expensive method, would be to tunnel rainwater/rivers halfway up on the mountains through to the East.
Don't worry Cali, lots of people are leaving, so you need less water. Although ol Gavin will probably use that excess to keep that mop on his head looking stylish.
Exactly! Mismanagement is the biggest problem in everything the government touches....
Southern California is the main culprit for water waste/usage
Especially in California with gruesome Newsome. Another idiot and moron .
People touch ... yet some help the situation!!
@@bonnieprice9482 government mostly...
Everything is easy when you have no concept of anything,
Kruger and Dunning
Will they learn from their past mistakes? I say NO
You sure got that right.
California politicians suck at managing infrastructure to correct this problem. Even if Lake Mead is save for now we will have the same issues in a few years because of a lack of planning.
Nope, they see the rains as a chance to put in bigger pools and waste more water on golf courses
@@67FORDTRUCKF250 bs , Phoenix uses less water now than 50 years ago despite being 3x the size. Golf courses use Grey water. Nobody manages water better than AZ...we don't waste water on lawns. I haven't watered the plants in my yard for 3 years
Socialists are incapable of managing resources
Back in 1983 my wife and I (with our two teenage sons) took a vacation to Vegas and the Grand Canyon. We also decided to visit Hoover dam. We did not know it was overflowing through both spillways at that time. It was the first time in the dam's history that the spillways were actually put to use (besides initial testing back in the 1930's). We had no way to know back in 1983 that Lake Mead would never be that full again. We were absolutely amazed at the sight of all that water gushing down the spillways. I would love to see those spillways gushing again.
Was doing geology fieldwork on Lake Mead at that time. Little did we know how unusual it would be to see those discharges.
Back in those days one got to Vegas from Arizona by crossing over the top of the dam (15 mph speed limit)
I saw the water overflowing the spillway and thought that the overflow happened every 4 or 5 years. Only when the internet came along did I realize that this was a rare event.
I saw the dam at full pool at that time and thought that is just the way it would always look.
And the trout fishing below the dam died.
@@williamolliges2622 I never heard of any trout fishery collapse and they are not endangered. Regardless, you control the outflow temperature. If it is colder from deep water, mix some top water in outflows with side gate opening.
Reservoirs in California have been at full capacity this winter. The problem is there is not enough capacity to provide water during the summer month. California has been dumping billions of gallons of water into the ocean because of the lack of capacity in reservoirs. In summer the state will then draw from Lake Mead to make up for the difference even though there has been more than enough rain in California. Nevada is taking is very little of Lake Mead's water and is the only state to have reduced its water consumption.
Yup, Issue brought up for yrs, waste due to lack of storage
Shame they can’t backflow up to mead when there’s extra at oroville, damn gravity. If remotely possible it’d be nice if they had the ability to at least pump 5- 1:59 10K cfs back up but I’m sure that’d take a lot of energy
What ? There hasn’t been any water in those lakes since 2019 as for this year, yes water will be dumped but nobody saw this coming this year. 100 yr winter as they would say. You know what happens when lakes go dry ? Lake mead supplies socal not NorCal. SoCal will continue to drain lake mead this year. Rains or not. And , yes mismanaged for 30+ years. Nevada uses 8% of lake mead. Arizona and Mexico take more. New Mexico gets few % too.
over 18 TRILLION gallons of water have been dumped into the ocean the last decade alone by California...
We need to close the flow south of lake Mead
Thanks!
Until water usage changes, this cycle of drought will be back. One can only take so much water out and not expect it to dwindle. This is a very good report!
The population has quadrupled since roughly 1920, the demand surpasses supply, the water is roughly still the same is it has been for thousands of years
Water rights need to change too. California has massively beneficial water rights compared to the remaining states along the Colorado.
@@MaskHysteria Yes, and california has more population than all the other states combined that use the water. what is your point?
@@wowguy3562 Well, at least the last 300 years-based on the "300 year study". But regardless, I'm assuming when you say the population has "quadrupled", you're alluding to the population of the southwest. Well, that population uses "potable" water, and potable water is less than 12% per the USGS. So in reality, that "population" out west isn't really where the water is being used.
@@wowguy3562 The population of a state has very little to do with anything. The water rights were largely given to agricultural producers, who are the first rights holders, and the majority of them happen to be in Calif. If Nevada as an example, had a better climate for Ag production, it would have received a far larger allocation that it received. Population was irrelevant.
Mismanagement! What? No... you don't say
If you look at the Lake Mead Water Database the water level went up by 4 feet since January and today is down by 1 foot. The outflow is almost always higher than the inflow. As long as the outflow is greater there is no way that the lake will fill up anytime soon.
Fact: we were in Grand Junction, CO late August 2022 and the Colorado River was still flowing band-to-bank towards Utah. Your video is correct, the misuse of water upstream is a big problem.
No. Not misuse. People in California should make their own water. They have a giant ocean with plenty of water right next door.
Down streem
@@jimfinnegan4208 down stream
TOO MANY PEOPLE use the water, manage the population, problem solved
Misuse primarily happens in the Lower Basin states, NOT upstream. The continued development and maintenance of real estate, luxury accommodations, resorts, marketing that exacerbates overpopulation, and inappropriately developed and expanded agriculture in the Lower Basin states is the reason for overuse of an always finite resource. The profiteering of land developers, resorts, and agriculture in the desert are overwhelmingly the greatest contributors to the problem of Colorado River water overuse in the Lower Basin.
We just got 1.25 inches of rain at my property in AZ today and it is heading UT and CO.
Instead of wasting $50 billion on a commuter rail that is 200% over budget already and only 1/4 complete. They could of built reservoirs and tunnel systems to capture all this water instead of letting it flow into the ocean.........Newsome must go.
This is the most pessimistic POSITIVE water report… 😂
Because everything else you've heard about water and climate is designed to make you scared about the future.
@@RealKlausSchwab wasted water is not new.
Did you hear what CA. Said? Theve decided everyone but them should get less water. Not kidding.
I know
that is called political generosity (everything into one's own pocket)!
Snow pack in California has no impact on Mead. It’s totally contingent on The upper basin of the Colorado drainage. Colorado , Wyoming, Utah , and New Mexico. The upper basin states account for almost all of its water. The lower basin states, Arizona, Nevada, and California comprise the the most users of the water.
Thanks for the obvious opinions.
@@yosef6664 He's absolutely correct.
@@ktpinnacle Obviously.
@@yosef6664 It's amazing how many people don't understand this. I would say that a large majority think that rain and snow falling in CA will directly restore Mead and Powell.
@ktpinnacle Most people are sheep. I'm glad to see the Colorado basin is 140% for the year with more on the way.
Thank you Gov. Newsom!
I heard (from a seemingly reputable source) that six or so more years like this last one will be a good first step for the big reservoirs.
If they were truly reputable, they would talk less about the "six years", and more about reducing usage, since the Colorado has a 2maf deficit in the system. Of course, the recent "500 plan" reduces usage by 500,000af equally in the upper & lower basins. Still another 1maf needed, but a start. The Colorado flowed above it's 300 year average from 2000-2018, yet the reservoir(s) still declined, so six years won't do much until more reductions are found. This is not about precipitation, but usage. The meteorological drought starting in 2019(made by NOAA) only exacerbates the water issues, it doesn't create them.
HYPR thank you for REALITY CHECK keep the awesome work😊
The three biggest reasons Lake Mead had been so depleted are the record population and economic growth of Las Vegas, record heat the past few years, which increased water consumption, and persistent drought. It's also true that this lake had been drawn down to feed downstream river and reservoirs, but had there not been the above 3 factors I believe Mead would not have been so depleted.
Of course it is...The Colorado Rockies have over 150% of normal snowfall as well.....Lake Mead hasn't even seen the runoff yet we get in the spring from the Rockies....
The overall trend, over the last two decades, is dropping levels reflected at Powell and Hoover reservoirs. The region is not out of the woods insofar as water is concerned
Is anybody monitoring deliberate releases of water?
Incompetent people in charge, where have we heard that before?
Lake Mead is a reservoir?
So they use the water for power generation.
Yes
One item not mentioned it that all of the areas that normally take from Lake Mead have also been getting a lot of rain, so many that need for water for landscaping/farming/ etc will be drastically reduced this year. this will also halp fill Lake Mead.
Don't get your hopes up people. Water management will squander this before you know it!
I’ve lived in Southern California for 61 years and I’ve heard the apocalyptic doom too many times to count.
Godizzla vs The Blob 2016
I lived in the Bay area as a kid in the 70's and we could only water our lawn on certain days.
@@redhorsereincarnated And there was 24 million people in California in the 70’s. Water management and the power grid have been left in decline while the population swelled to 40 million. This is what one party rule gets you for your tax dollars while money is wasted and misused everywhere you look.
You didn't take into account the possibility of more water being retained at Lake Powell like they did last year which will have a negative affect on Lake Mead.
Does this mean our cost of water will be reduced? When there was water shortage our government used that as an excuse to raise our rates.
Everybody must remember to continue to conserve water. This does not mean that we can just have a good old time and waste it because we may not get these rains next year or the next year or the next year!
So they made it rain 🌧️☔ like cats and dogs
You mean people don't conserve?
If you look at the lake level chart, the level has dropped the last few weeks. And this is not unusual for this time of year. The atmospheric river impacts the west coast, but the Colorado River system is dependent on a watershed that is far to the east, mostly in the Rockies. We'll see later if Powell and Mead are impacted by winter snows and spring rains in that area.
Some water from southern Utah impacted by the rains, goes to the Colorado.
@@donaldkasper8346 yes. The virgin river enters the basin at the north end of the virgin arm.
@@donaldkasper8346 I live in Southern Utah and St George and Santa Clara water levels were flooding we had 2 wks of rain Southern California has rain too. The Wasatch mountains has a glacier too. Utah fills up the Colorado River
This year's record-setting snowpack will raise the level of Lake Powell by almost 50 feet but even this is no remedy for the disaster at Lake Mead. CA should have been made to supply Lake Mead directly from their spillways.
@@jaylewis5035 If it's like 2019, you may be right. Not sure how you get to your second point.
The most amazing thing here is a lack of negative comments. Yay for lake mead.
Thanks for the dam update
This is where we learn to fix our mistakes and own up to our consequences of our actions
The title is misleading . The lake is not fed by “CA floods”, but by the Colorado river / Rocky mtns🏔️ /surrounding basin , (like the video say’s itself).
All the state except California have had a plan and actions in water conservation
I saw a video a while ago that showed how part of the headwaters of the Colorado River have actually been redirected to flow to the East side of the Rockies with a construction called the Grand Ditch.
Have you looked at the water levels at Lake mead gone up from 1045 to 1047 since January 1st whole 2 feet. Colorado the main source of snow for the Colorado river snowpack is over by 150% in southern Colorado like the San Juan, Animas, and San Miguel, Dolores mountains. This won't amount to more than few hundred feet in lake mead at most.
the Colorado has been over allocated for 100 years, and of course there are just too many people and too much agriculture dependent on its waters. its past time for the Dept of Interior to step up and say its going to be re-allocated like this! " everybody is gonna be cut back and nobody is going to like it! too bad, so sad ! there is just not enuf water to go around !"
@@kino2450 They don't have the pollical power to do it. Now we have WallStreet investors buying up cheap farmland just to sell the water rights. That should be illegal IMO if you're not going to farm you don't get to use the water for something else.
Lake Mead wants water..... Lake Powell says hold my beer.
How are the chemical readings from the Chen trail induced snow pack?
The spring thaw will likely wash away the Glen Canyon and Hoover dams?
🤣
Famous words from the time of the “Water Wars” in the old west which says “Whiskey is for drinking it’s Water that’s for Fighting !”
More cuts needed.more management held accountable. Follow the money
🌨💃⛈️💃🌨💃🌧💃keep dancing for RAIN...Let's Fill the COLORADO RIVER..
🌧💃🌨💃⛈️💃🌦💃
Could a prolonged rainstorm have had the same effect or did it take an "Atmospheric" rainstorm to make the lake level rise? As a side note, what are the potential future problems in creating a man made lake in the middle of a desert?
desert sand isn't right type substrate, doesn't hold water. Best example... When the palm shaped famous houding island in UAE was planned with all the sand of surrounding environment,the Dutch engineers had to inport all of the filler sand bc desertsand won't conform and doesn't stick togetger. Secondly arid ckimates Re known for lack of rainfall ehich limate is not condusive for expectations of rain filling up man made lakes. Thrid,there is no way to fivert exisiting river wzters bc they are slready overused and critically so low to attempt to fo so would leave the 5 to 7 states dependebt on Mead and Powell systems would further deplete the historically low levels. Lastly, wzter right laws and arbitrary coopting any water ,rain fall above or below ground resources would violate federal and State laws.
It would end up being like the Salton Sea most likely. A disaster.
A friend of mine lives in Vegas. He says its not the lack of rainfall as much as overpopulation consuming too much water.
..he is wrong
@@poolmonkey7479 pretty sure he's right.
Appeal to authority, Common fallacy in logic. Using an un authorized person or one that lacks relevant credentials to support an unsubstantiated fact.
Nevada is a Desert. You have to live there several years to appreciate that. A man made Oasis. The arid climate is still that. They need a a steady stream of h2o. Finding it.?!🔥🥂📜🛎️
This is the rejuvenating action needed at Lake Mead, as well as at the other reservoirs in CA.
You have no clue. Floods in California do not pour into Arizona or Nevada, where Mead is. Mead and the SOUTH-FLOWING Colorado river are fed by the snowpack in the Colorado and Gunnison basins. Both currently have above-normal snowpack, but only 20 to 40 percent more than normal. The recent atmospheric rivers did almost nothing to affect Powel or Mead. As it stands today, Mead is still only at about 1/3 of its capacity.
True. But the Imperial Valley relies significantly on Colorado River water-which passes thru Lake Mead. Down flow water levels are kept high to accommodate this. Lower Colorado River, Lake Havasu, and Baja California use Lake Mead water. Some comes from lower CA reservoirs too, but this still depleted Lake Mead. Rain feeding canals feeding reservoirs in CA help the overall situation.
this is all a crock! its going down to new lows in about 3 months
My Prediction is a 1983 Flashback.
The Virgin River from Southern Utah also empties into lake Mead. I wonder if that's also delivering more water than before.
It ran strong all winter while i was there, has raged a bunch since late January.
Not happy to see CA open all their spillways to send millions of acre feet that should be routed to Lake Mead into the Pacific Ocean. CA draws from the Colorado River so why aren't they supplying the Colorado River now that they have excessive water?
I don't understand, why the enourmous recent rainfall didn't help more? There are two things to do now: 1. with so many sand banks laying dry now, wouldn't it be wise to dig the reservoirs deeper?
2. couldn't water tunnels be dug through the Rockies, to capture some of the excessive rainfall of California and reroute it inlands?
California needs more water. It makes no sense to bring it to Arizona
All the CA water never makes it into Lake Mead. Different watersheds at play. Lake Mead has Lake Powell above it, and that lake is at only 25% capacity. Above Powell are huge reservoirs that are also very low (Near Gunnison, CO, also Flaming Gorge).The entire system is thirsty.
It’s not rainfall that fills the dams such as mead it’s mountain snowfall. With snow levels well above average mead, glen canyon etc will be back to normal levels. Local rainfall does very little overall
Because it's not just rain that fills the rivers and lakes. The snowpack in the Rockies plays a huge part in the overall level.
@@jimmoses6617 too much of the precious rainfall is flowing off into the Pacific. needs a big engineering solution. not just strictly managing the deficit, only! exceeds a single state's capability.
Poor management? You all said this was all caused by global warming. Poor management? No way!
The lake is doing what it is supposed to do. Store water flowing down the Colorado River.
Talk about clickbait titling! Flooding in California has absolutely no impact on lake mead water levels.
In another video, an hydrologist indicated the region would need another 5 winters of atmospheric rivers and over average snow packs to bring the level of Lake Mead to an acceptable level. This is simply a blio delaying the inevitable.
Thanks...someone who understand logic and reason. People are jumping up and down about a wet year, after 30 years of drought. It would take 30 years of this before we could actually claim things had returned to normal.
And how long will that last with more than 6 million homes built and using the water between 3 states
My question is, will it be sustained? What is the likelihood that it will be sustained?
Lake Mead needs to be at 100%
Do the snow dance
@Homer Holler 💯 after all, the 2 inch smelt fish is much more important than human life.👍🏼
Come on Mother Nature ❤!!
Let lake Mead fill, drain the swamp!
If you look at the Green river and the Colorado river where they join,
they are about equal in size. Time to give Wyoming and Utah a little credit for the water in Powell and Mead.
So Golf courses in the Desert isn't the best Idea🤔
85% of Lake Mead water goes to growing food (as it should). Very, very little goes to golf courses, though they are the most visible and hence catch the most blame.
@@jimmoses6617 It doesn't make me feel like going in the water after I saw Foamy Vegas treatment water going back into the Colorado river.
@@mikecalif5553 Eww...I thought what happens in Vega$ STAYS in Vega$? Guess not...
@@jimmoses6617 Google Earth dead giveaway.
Pick up a pair of golf clubs and you will understand.
The americans never learn. Look at all those idiotic wars!
Was there in 87. Went to the intake towers and the you can actually feel the movement of the saw tooth grates by the intake towers.
As usual, no mention of the diversion of water from the Upper Colorado River basin over the Continental Divide to Denver.
They’ll keep building and building. Needing more and more water. Guaranteed!
You can't "keep reality in check". But you can keep your emotions in check.
That doesn;t mean that conservation does not need to be followed. Las Vegas uses water at a crazy rate
It's nature, people worry about saving the planet. They need worry about saving themselves. This planet was here, long before we arrived. And will be here long after.
Wish he would state what mismanagement has occurred. Not one mention of drought conditions or rising mean temperatures in southern Nevada, which causes more evaporation from the lake.
the global rising temperature should over a little delay also cause the ocean temperature to go up, and increase evaporation and rainfall. The problem is to get the necessary rainfall inland. it doesn't help Nevada and Arizona if all the plenty rain falls into the Pacific!
@@konradcomrade4845 I don't know whether the same climate impacts would result in greater reliable precip over the Colorado watershed, thus guaranteeing ample water to those that rely on Powell and Mead water. Evaporation to the negative has increased year by year. Time will tell.
🤣
This windfall is going to be squandered by the incompetent local governments.
Someone needs to hold their feet to the fire about improving water management.
The whole Colorado river compact needs to be rewritten. Can’t keep counting magic water
If you state that the issue is mismanagement, I would like to point one thing out, we have the same amount of water basically. 100 years ago there were approx. 2 billion people in the world, we just passed 8 billion people. More people are using the limited but same amount of water there has always been, that, is where the water is going, to crops, people, and a lot of waste
Bad info. Powell won’t release water for quite a long time.
Please don’t ignore the aspect of weather modification which is an enormously important factor in the drought. They literally blocked all of our rain for years on end, that was NOT natural.
New management is needed in the allocation of water resources. The old guard needs to retire.
Great, more water for the golf courses!
And swimming pools
What we are seeing here is only a band-aid fix. Until management gets their heads out of the sand, AND consistent rains return, this situation of extremely low water levels will return.
Yea..for Lake Mead.
What about the wildlife that lives on and around the river ?!
That is good news! I hope that accountability included some people losing their damn jobs.
It's a blessing
We really need to get rid of the people who are miss-managing the lake 🌵🩵🙏
Mismanagement is a understatement, more like criminal intent.
Save yo water fool!
👁 Pitty the fool that don’t save his water!!
I seen inside the Hoover damn once. You’d never believe what they have in there and the real reason why they built it! 🤯
Which is?
@@chasetonga He saw a sci-fi movie... there are evil alien robots and stuff
ALIENS?? 😂😂😂
@@yyyuiu5773 Someone actually made that movie? Sounds whack.
Also water from the Green River, that starts up by Pinedale Wyoming, and snow pack there has been down for many years. And yes, come on, irrigating crops in a desert, whos bright idea what that. And now with water levels rising, its time to start major water conservation methods down stream. I'm glad I don't have to rely on water from Lake Mead.
The bright idea of watering crops in the desert comes from the fact that 90% of the USA cannot grow crops 5 to 6 months a year, and since 1950 90% of our crops come from the SW united states. If this can not continue expect to pay 4 to 5 times your average produce bill as it will need to be imported.
@@FastEddy301 So when the water goes back to a trickle, will you tell all those people in southern CA and Arizona. Sorry folks, water is being used to raise crops
farming in a desert is very productive if water is available. The problem has to be tackled from two sides: less demand or more supply! if possible I would favor the latter.
This is great to hear!
Seriously rain collecting needs to be encouraged.
"Mismanagement"? Who are you referring to? There isn't a drop of Colorado River water that is "mismanaged".
There's a saying in the west since the 1800's:
"Whisky is for drinking. Water is for fighting."
Be careful what you say about water out here son, especially in that fairy British accent 🙄
Mmmm golf courses. Maybe we need a couple more to water in Vegas
Well......theunder ground aquifers are far from full. Also southern California has along longways to go.
I wish half the snowpack in the Sierra could be sent to the central and southern Rockies.The intermountain west and Rockies have been dry as a popcorn fart since the late 80's. THAT is were the huge snows are needed.
it is because the mountains are an obstacle to the flow of humid air inland. The resistive situation is increased by the many wind turbines on the hills and mountains of CA, which brake the winds even more!
When a stream of humid Pacific air approaches, the wind turbines should be switched to blowing mode, so they could help transport humidity over the mountains. Or the conventional, maybe expensive method, would be to tunnel rainwater/rivers halfway up on the mountains through to the East.
I bet it is the Army Corp of Engineers, run it. It's no surprise to hear it is mismanaged.
Don't worry Cali, lots of people are leaving, so you need less water. Although ol Gavin will probably use that excess to keep that mop on his head looking stylish.
The huge snowpack in the Sierras won't help Lake Mead.
There's that little problem of being on the wrong side of the Contintental Divide.
Lake Mead is saved! As if we had anything to do with it being saved. Nature is seeking the balance it once had!!!
Why are we listening to an English guy talking about Lake Mead?