Hoover Dam/Lake Mead

[Tiny]

Any one else watching Lake Mead (and the other reservoir lakes that feed it) dry up?     

The boat in the picture of this article is already on dry land... 

www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/lake-mead-nears-dead-pool-status-water-levels-hit-another-historic-low-rcna34733

Lake Powell and several others are also dropping and revealing the canyons that have been underwater for decades.  

I guess the water from the other  'reservoir' lakes will be used to feed Lake Mead and to keep Hoover Dam generating electricity and to keep the Colorado River flowing down stream.     That's the current plan from what I can glean from most of the "not the headline news" type articles.     

There doesn't seem to be much panic or concern.   


Here's a quick long ago  slide to today image: 


This is from a year ago: 

 
  
I like the videos of the 'boat launches' that now snake down several foot ball fields to get to the water on Lake Mead.  
There's one photo where what was once a lake front Resort  is now up and back in the distance (not walking distance) when you are standing at the current "marina" and boat launch.     


I think one of the predictions is that Hoover Dam has 5 years of "water" left (meaning the other reservoirs that can be tapped to keep the water going - will be drained). 

[toomuchreality]

I knew the water level was down, but didn't realize the impact it would have until I saw your post.
Thank you.

[Tennesseer]

St. Thomas, Nevada: The Ghost Town That Emerged From the Depths of Lake Mead

Located in the middle of Nevada's Lake Mead is the ghost town of St. Thomas. Once home to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), it was abandoned following the construction of the Hoover Dam. While submerged beneath water for decades, in recent years the town has remerged as the southwestern United States suffers from an extended drought.

The town is settled... then quickly abandoned

St. Thomas was settled by members of the LDS Church in 1865. At the time, the population, which at its peak was around 500, believed they were in either Utah and Arizona - not Nevada. This would later cause issues between residents and the state's government.

Complete article here: St. Thomas, Nevada: The Ghost Town That Emerged From the Depths of Lake Mead

[NoNamePerson]

All kinds of stuff coming up!  


LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The FBI is assisting with the investigation into the body found in a barrel at Lake Mead, a department spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday.



Boaters found the body last month. The 8 News Now I-Team first reported the news of the discovery.


www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/fbi-assisting-with-investigation-into-body-found-in-barrel-at-lake-mead/

[djAdvocate]

yeah.  if this keeps going, they will find all kinds of stuff.

[djAdvocate]

i found this really interesting.  countries ranked by water resources per capita:


www.indexmundi.com/facts/indicators/ER.H2O.INTR.PC/rankings


Canada and Costa Rica are in the top quartile.
the US is in the second quartile.
Turkey is right in the middle.
Northern Europe, India, and parts of the Middle East are in the 3rd quartile.
Island nations, Northern Africa and Israel are in the bottom quartile.

[Tiny]

Here's a CBS Morning report on Lake Powell and Lake Havasu Canyon the first 1/2 of the video is "history" and the second half is a "tour" of the canyon being revealed as the water drops. It's very beautiful.

[toomuchreality]

I grew up hiking in these canyons and boating in the reservoirs. I have many fond memories of hiking up to the different ruins. Was it ever hot!
It truly is beautiful.

[Artemis Windsong]

The snow pack drainage must have been used up by upstream users.

It is insane to think the Mississippi river could be diverted to the Colorado River.  In my state the water people did a pipeline to the parched SW part of the state.  That took years of land negotiations.  Very expensive.

I know a lot of people who are trying to conserve water through various means like shutting off the shower while soaping up or brushing teeth.  Flushing  toilets after X number of uses.  Not washing cars. 

Using left over water in bottles to water plants.  If you've been to an athletic event where water bottles are supplied, there are half full bottles all over which are tossed.  The main issue there is a few sips, setting down the water bottle then which one is mine so they get left.

[Artemis Windsong]

H. said the Utah run off waters drain into Lake Mead.

www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/tourists-and-park-rangers-rescued-from-flash-flooding-in-capitol-reef-national-park/ar-AAYPvoQ?cvid=d5071a4b89524ca5a1c381e0a15a4857

[happyhoix]

Yes it will be interesting to see what changes we have to make to accommodate the weather changes due to global warming.

A lot of water iin that area is used for agricultural irrigation, plus things like swimming pools and golf courses. Who will win out - the corporate interests or the requirements homeowners have for potable water. Or will the towns at the headwaters of a river get to use more than their fair share of the river water while the users downstream don’t get enough. I know in our area, Atlanta has a limited water supply yet continues to grow, and they’ve got schemes to run pipelines out to other areas (including ours) to siphon off a reliable source of water. Big water fights.

We may have to give up some of the agricultural land, and people who live in those areas may have to dig up their lawns and pools and have zeroscape landscapes if they want to continue living there.

Meanwhile, along the coasts and all of Florida they’ll be dealing with flooding and saltwater incursions of their freshwater aquifers. Where I live is apparently becoming a new Tornado Alley as the spring storms become more violent.

Wonderful.

[dondub]

The Boyz were discussing ‘climate immigration’ into our state at golf on Tuesday. Milder summers here in western Washington and milder winters too. Plenty of water now. We just sense there will be an influx of folks from hotter and dryer climes once water restrictions kick in and the 117 degrees roasts them out.

[Tiny]

I'm kind of amazed there isn't more trash being exposed as the water recedes.  No beer cans, no tangles of fishing line and lures, no stuff that falls off boats (old coolers, chairs, fishing poles, tools, etc... )  

[Tennesseer]

No Jimmy Hoffa yet too.

[Tiny]

  
It's just that I watch a couple of Magnet Fishers - and they are pulling all sorts of metal junk out of water ways...   (one of the guys pulled a dish washer out of a river.... ) 

And then there's the dive teams who are using sonar to search water ways for missing people (and the vehicle they drove into the water way).  It seems like just about any body of water that's deeper than 6 feet  has a couple of vehicles submerged in it (I think most are stolen? or were driven in for fun?)   But, there's still a surprising number of people who die by driving their vehicle into a body of water.    

The dive teams started out diving and searching for stuff (sometimes valuable) on the bottom of lakes and rivers and ponds. and eventually moved to looking for vehicles and then trying to help with missing persons cases.    If there are people using or living along a water way (or lake or pond) there's tons of discarded junk in water.    

When I was younger - a lake in a local forest preserve was drained and the amount of trash was mind bogling (to me at least).  OK, my older siblings decided it would be fun to look the the mud for old beer cans (it was the 70's - collecting beer cans was a thing).  the mud was littered with debris -   I remember I found a 45 record.  I thought it was so weird to find that so far from shore.  

So, it seems weird the terrain uncovered by the receding waters (in all the lakes/reservoirs  above Hoover Dam)  isn't littered with trash.. 

[toomuchreality]

Jun 30, 2022 23:19:17 GMT -5 Tiny said:

  
It's just that I watch a couple of Magnet Fishers - and they are pulling all sorts of metal junk out of water ways...   (one of the guys pulled a dish washer out of a river.... ) 

And then there's the dive teams who are using sonar to search water ways for missing people (and the vehicle they drove into the water way).  It seems like just about any body of water that's deeper than 6 feet  has a couple of vehicles submerged in it (I think most are stolen? or were driven in for fun?)   But, there's still a surprising number of people who die by driving their vehicle into a body of water.    

The dive teams started out diving and searching for stuff (sometimes valuable) on the bottom of lakes and rivers and ponds. and eventually moved to looking for vehicles and then trying to help with missing persons cases.    If there are people using or living along a water way (or lake or pond) there's tons of discarded junk in water.    

When I was younger - a lake in a local forest preserve was drained and the amount of trash was mind bogling (to me at least).  OK, my older siblings decided it would be fun to look the the mud for old beer cans (it was the 70's - collecting beer cans was a thing).  the mud was littered with debris -   I remember I found a 45 record.  I thought it was so weird to find that so far from shore.  

So, it seems weird the terrain uncovered by the receding waters (in all the lakes/reservoirs  above Hoover Dam)  isn't littered with trash.. 

Wow! That's a lot of weird crap, to find under the water! Really weird.

I remember how collecting cans was a big thing, in the 70s!

[Tennesseer]

Maybe Amelia Earhart?

More human remains found at Lake Mead

National Park Service personnel are investigating another witness report of human remains found at Lake Mead, the agency announced Monday.

Few details were made available about the apparent discovery at the time of the announcement, which the NPS released soon after park rangers received the witness report around 4:30 p.m. EST. According to the NPS, an unidentified person uncovered the body while visiting a portion of Lake Mead National Recreation Area called Swim Beach, located in the reservoir's boulder basin area about 30 miles east of Las Vegas.

Rest of article here: More human remains found at Lake Mead

[chiver78]

Jun 23, 2022 16:38:28 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

St. Thomas, Nevada: The Ghost Town That Emerged From the Depths of Lake Mead

Located in the middle of Nevada's Lake Mead is the ghost town of St. Thomas. Once home to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), it was abandoned following the construction of the Hoover Dam. While submerged beneath water for decades, in recent years the town has remerged as the southwestern United States suffers from an extended drought.

The town is settled... then quickly abandoned

St. Thomas was settled by members of the LDS Church in 1865. At the time, the population, which at its peak was around 500, believed they were in either Utah and Arizona - not Nevada. This would later cause issues between residents and the state's government.

Complete article here: St. Thomas, Nevada: The Ghost Town That Emerged From the Depths of Lake Mead

this was an interesting read, thank you. felt a lot like something a little closer to home - the lost towns of the Quabbin Reservoir

/endthreadhijack

[haapai]

Jun 30, 2022 23:19:17 GMT -5 Tiny said:

  
It's just that I watch a couple of Magnet Fishers - and they are pulling all sorts of metal junk out of water ways...   (one of the guys pulled a dish washer out of a river.... ) 

And then there's the dive teams who are using sonar to search water ways for missing people (and the vehicle they drove into the water way).  It seems like just about any body of water that's deeper than 6 feet  has a couple of vehicles submerged in it (I think most are stolen? or were driven in for fun?)   But, there's still a surprising number of people who die by driving their vehicle into a body of water.    

The dive teams started out diving and searching for stuff (sometimes valuable) on the bottom of lakes and rivers and ponds. and eventually moved to looking for vehicles and then trying to help with missing persons cases.    If there are people using or living along a water way (or lake or pond) there's tons of discarded junk in water.    

When I was younger - a lake in a local forest preserve was drained and the amount of trash was mind bogling (to me at least).  OK, my older siblings decided it would be fun to look the the mud for old beer cans (it was the 70's - collecting beer cans was a thing).  the mud was littered with debris -   I remember I found a 45 record.  I thought it was so weird to find that so far from shore.  

So, it seems weird the terrain uncovered by the receding waters (in all the lakes/reservoirs  above Hoover Dam)  isn't littered with trash.. 

I imagine that a 45 would skip quite nicely in flat water, especially if you taped over the big hole in the middle.   I skipped a lot of stones as a kid.  If I knew that the 45 was warped or skipping, you bet your bippy that I would have found some scotch tape and set a skipping record.  

I don't understand how I just described something so wholesome and still feel that I need to feed a cuss jar. 

[weltschmerz]

Jun 25, 2022 9:40:39 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

Yes it will be interesting to see what changes we have to make to accommodate the weather changes due to global warming.

A lot of water iin that area is used for agricultural irrigation, plus things like swimming pools and golf courses. Who will win out - the corporate interests or the requirements homeowners have for potable water. Or will the towns at the headwaters of a river get to use more than their fair share of the river water while the users downstream don’t get enough. I know in our area, Atlanta has a limited water supply yet continues to grow, and they’ve got schemes to run pipelines out to other areas (including ours) to siphon off a reliable source of water. Big water fights.

We may have to give up some of the agricultural land, and people who live in those areas may have to dig up their lawns and pools and have zeroscape landscapes if they want to continue living there.

Meanwhile, along the coasts and all of Florida they’ll be dealing with flooding and saltwater incursions of their freshwater aquifers. Where I live is apparently becoming a new Tornado Alley as the spring storms become more violent.

Wonderful.

Give up agricultural land, which helps everybody?  Why not give up golf courses, which waste 2 BILLION gallons of water per day, and only enjoyed by the privileged few?

[Ryan]

I would definitely be concerned with this, particularly if I was a resident of California.  Still though, on a small scale, my family has a lake house and Michigan and in the mid 2000's it looked like the lake was being drained like a bathtub.  Water levels dropped QUICkLY and it was assumed it would never come back.  Last year was the highest level ever recorded on the lake and this year it's down a bit from last.

I guess we'll see what happens.

[Tiny]

The drought has been going on for 22 years... so it's probably near the end. <-- that's sarcasm

Or, maybe this is what trump was referring to when he claimed Mexico would pay for the wall... maybe trump was gonna re-negotiate the treaty with Mexico (for Colorado River water)... and start charging them for water? <-- more sarcasm.

FWIW:   As far as I can tell  -- no one seems to be overly concerned about the drought.     So I'm guessing that while it looks dramatic - it's not actually a problem.     

[djAdvocate]

Jul 26, 2022 12:35:39 GMT -5 Ryan said:

I would definitely be concerned with this, particularly if I was a resident of California.  Still though, on a small scale, my family has a lake house and Michigan and in the mid 2000's it looked like the lake was being drained like a bathtub.  Water levels dropped QUICkLY and it was assumed it would never come back.  Last year was the highest level ever recorded on the lake and this year it's down a bit from last.

I guess we'll see what happens.

not this resident.  our municipality gets 0% of it's power from there.

it is mostly a "greater LA" problem.  even San Diego doesn't depend on it.

[Tiny]

It looks like some action is being taken...

(FWIW:  lots of areas and people have been working towards using less water for over 20 years.  AT this point - it's gonna be the people/areas that have done nothing to mitigate their water usage that will experience the most pain... any area involved that kept kicking the can to the future - may find that there is no longer a future to push these problems off on... ) 



(find it interesting that the boat standing up like a gravestone out of the water - is now firmly on dry land...

Jump to 9:30 minutes in for the iconic boat.... 

   

[Tiny]

oh forgot to mention The Colorado River isn't the only one at all time lows. Rivers all around the world are running low... and lakes (natural or man made) are dropping dramatically as well.

[Tennesseer]

Aug 17, 2022 15:55:35 GMT -5 Tiny said:

oh forgot to mention The Colorado River isn't the only one at all time lows. Rivers all around the world are running low... and lakes (natural or man made) are dropping dramatically as well.

The Great Salt Lake in Utah doesn't cover as much area and lower in elevation as it was 36 years ago.

[Artemis Windsong]

There is a lot of monsoon activity and flooding in northern AZ.  There are drainage maps online to see where the rain waters and snow pack melt go.