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241 comments on DrumBeat: February 13, 2008

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andrews416 on February 13, 2008 - 9:54am Permalink | Subthread | Comments top

Lake Mead may go dry by 2021

There is a 50 percent chance that Lake Mead, which was created by the Hoover Dam and the Colorado River, will go dry by 2021 because of escalating human demand and climate change, according to a study by Tim Barnett and David Pierce of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography of the University of California at San Diego.

Not really news as anyone who's seen pictures of Lake Mead can easily see the high water marks.

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shargash on February 13, 2008 - 10:07am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Not surprisingly, Lake Powell is not in much better shape. I was out there last year, and it was very far down. A park ranger (my uncle) told me they are under constant pressure to release more water for Lake Mead and for the people downstream, but they just don't have the water to release. The dams at Mead and Powell generate a significant amount of the southwest's electricity, and the river is the main source of water for a lot of people.

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dipchip on February 13, 2008 - 10:45am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

It will be interesting to see how this years snow pack in the Colorado river basin will affect both lake levels. I suspect it may exceed the 2005 peak.

http://www.arachnoid.com/NaturalResources/index.html

http://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/g4000/hourly/mead-elv.html

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doug fir on February 13, 2008 - 12:03pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

I noted in yesterday's thread that snowpack is thankfully way up across the west this winter. In some watersheds, over 200% of normal. It's giving quite a breather for all reservoir filling.
For projected streamflow and Feb 1 snowpack:

ftp://ftp.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/support/water/westwide/snowpack/wy2008/snow0...
ftp://ftp.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/support/water/westwide/streamflow/wy2008/str...

Snow course data for individual watersheds here:

http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/snowcourse/snow_rpt.html

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Leanan on February 13, 2008 - 10:30am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

There's some discussion of this story in yesterday's DrumBeat.

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241 comments on DrumBeat: February 13, 2008

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