Posted on 06/21/2022 3:06:26 PM PDT by blam
The surface of Lake Mead, North America’s largest artificial reservoir, now stands at 1044 feet above sea level and is dropping fast. If Lake Mead’s water level falls another 149 feet, a dangerous level known as a “dead pool” could wreak havoc across Southwestern US.
Since the beginning of March, Lake Mead has dropped about 23 feet, and compared with the 5-year trend, the reservoir’s water levels are well below average, at the lowest point since the lake was filled nearly a century ago.
A graph might not do justice to visualizing just how fast the water level has fallen. So here are three pictures of a sunken speedboat in the lake and the corresponding date. Just in May, the boat was partially submerged. Now there’s no water.
If Lake Mead were to keep dropping, it could be a couple of years until a danger zone at 895 feet is reached, which is the point water would no longer pass through Hoover Dam to supply California, Arizona, and Mexico. Below 895 feet, the lake would be considered a “dead pool.”
BREAKING: Lake Mead has now dropped to 1044.39 feet in elevation for the first time since the lake was filled nearly 100 years ago.
This is a loss of 1.18 feet or 14.2″ in the last 7 days when I last reported on this.
Dead pool is now < 150 feet away.https://t.co/7fUfKF4exK pic.twitter.com/5TBQgvcntt
— Edgar McGregor (@edgarrmcgregor) June 20, 2022
For more context of what’s happened over the last three decades as a megadrought grips the US West, here’s a view of the spillway of the Hoover Dam in 1983 versus 2021.
Weather satellites have captured an absolutely stunning view of the lake rapidly shrinking in the last two years.
Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the 2 largest reservoirs in the US, which provide water to over 40 million Americans in Nevada, Arizona and California, are at their lowest levels ever.
This will have unprecedented consequences and require drastic water restrictions never seen before. pic.twitter.com/VSb6ZMtPRq
— US StormWatch (@US_Stormwatch) June 15, 2022
A lake observer on YouTuber shows how the water level has dangerously dropped in the last two weeks.
How’s the Delta Smelt doing, by the way?
Vegas is drinking California’s milkshake!
BWAHAHAHAHAHA
“There’s plenty of water in the Northeast and reservoirs are in great shape. New York City could easily triple its population and still have plenty of water. In fact, I think metro NYC, which includes parts of Long Island, Connecticut and New Jersey, can easily fit over 100 million people. “
Too bad the Ukraine War starters (the Democrats) won’t permit us to build a water pipeline of this type, nor permit desalinization, at all.
How m,uch of our water is Mexico getting? They used to open the spillways from Lake Mead and send it south.
HAHA! I’d rather starve.
Lets all live in the desert and act like it isn’t the desert.
Now that was hard-hitting and funny as hell Scrambler.
= = =
I drive by those CA solar farms frequently.
Used to be a scenic desert view. Not any more.
But . . . they will save the Earth /s/s/ss/s//
Water too shallow to launch large boats. Last I saw, there was only one launch left. The water pump valves that provide water for the cities are almost at the critical level
They built lakes in the desert.
I will start caring when the west reports all the millions of illegals consuming the water.
In 1971, I was riding shotgun on a ferry run with a friend of my father to deliver an old Jeep to our deer hunting camp in the Gila Mountains. Using an International 4x4 pickup for the job.
Paul was born in the 1900teens I would guess. The highway north out of Las Cruces is in desolate, dry lands except for irrigated strips along the Rio Grande river. Mountain ranges are east and west of the river. Paul told me that when he was a boy, these lands were covered with grass but the rains stopped and it turned to desert.
To give a sense of how rugged these lands are now, NASA had a facility in them where the Apollo moon astronauts trained on driving the moon buggy. The sand and rocks stood in for the surface of the moon.
Some of us here are pushing for them; the math is still problematic, marginal at best given the energy cost. Without a few nuke plants not going to happen, sadly. We *could* do it, but Newsome is more interested in giving handouts to buy votes.
Dropping faster than the economy under Biden
“water would no longer pass through Hoover Dam to supply California, Arizona and Mexico—a level known as “dead pool.””
https://phys.org/news/2022-06-colorado-river-reservoirs-western-states.html
Mexicans get to starve and dry up just like we will.
If we didnt have all of the “south of the border” immigration to these southwest states, how much water do you think would still be in Lake Mead?
I’ve only been to the south part of New Mexico once and the area going to El Paso, TX looks like you’re on the moon. You’re right.
Yeah, Victor Davis Hanson is an almond farmer in the San Jauquin valley; I saw an episode of good fellows from the Hoover Institution where he bitches about not getting enough water…so much for his conservative cred.
I don’t think they should be coming here at all. Conditions here are deteriorating rapidly under Brandon, the west is drying out and they need to go back home before they either starve or they get shot by gang-bangers.
California has shot itself in the foot so many times I’m surprised it still has a leg to stand on.
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