Little known fact about Lake Powell. Powell is legally obligated to release 8.23 million acre feet of water annually

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Mar 14, 2019
9:51:40am

Pimpin4Paradise All-American

Little known fact about Lake Powell. Powell is legally obligated to release 8.23 million acre feet of water annually

to feed the downstream Lake Mead. Since 2000, the Feds have been forcing Powell to release 9 million acre feet annually to prop up the ever dwindling Mead. If Powell hadn't been forced to release more than the legally required amount, it would be at approximately full pool. IOW - California is the worst. It's not like they have an ocean they could desalinate to avoid drying up reserves for arid western states like Utah, Arizona, and Nevada.

This message has been modified

Originally posted on Mar 14, 2019 at 9:51:40am

Message modified by Pimpin4Paradise on Mar 14, 2019 at 9:53:14am

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Pimpin4Paradise

Previous username: ChubbyChaser
Bio page: Pimpin4Paradise
Joined: May 2, 2008
Last login: Nov 12, 2022
Total posts: 56,121 (5,737 FO)

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Messages

Author

Time

Little known fact about Lake Powell. Powell is legally obligated to release 8.23 million acre feet of water annually

Pimpin4Paradise All-American

3/14/19 9:51am

Yep. The Lake Powell water problem has little to do with the amount of water

JAGA97

3/14/19 9:54am

There’s plenty of water in Lake Powell for your boat.

pink22

3/14/19 9:55am

Yeah, not really sure what the issue is

Dillinger

3/14/19 9:56am

Bullfrog ramp is only 3 feet away from being closed.

JAGA97

3/14/19 9:57am

We were at Lake Powell in October and used the Castle Rock cutoff. The water level is now 9' below the cutoff. Crazy

Cosmodiar

3/14/19 9:59am

RE: We were at Lake Powell in October and used the Castle Rock cutoff. The

davemishsr

3/15/19 11:16am

I remember going through the Gunsight Pass cut-off on watercraft years ago

oohYeah

3/14/19 10:38am

Right now rivers running into Lake Powell are running well above average yet they are still letting out more water

Cosmodiar

3/14/19 9:58am

And????

pink22

3/14/19 10:05am

Spoken like a true Californian. Arid western states care less about the number of beaches and more about the reserves

Pimpin4Paradise

3/14/19 10:08am

I live in California?? Since when??

pink22

3/14/19 10:10am

I was kidding. Just a little joke about Californians being superficial when faced with an issue like dwindling water

Pimpin4Paradise

3/14/19 10:19am

There are plenty of beaches at full pool

shakarocks

3/14/19 10:57am

Many of my favorite beaches are at full pool.

oohYeah

3/14/19 3:36pm

Do you remember that time California accidentally rerouted the Colorado River

UberDeek

3/14/19 9:57am

I don't know if I'll ever go back now that it's riddled with Quaggi.

Hambone

3/14/19 9:58am

It's still a great place even with them.

Cosmodiar

3/14/19 10:02am

This will be a great year to go back. The mussels will all be buried and won't

3/14/19 10:03am

Right now Powell is 40 feet lower than this time last year. You think this summer will be 40 feet higher than last year?

Pete

3/14/19 10:08am

40 feet higher than right now. Last year was such a bad snow year that it only

3/14/19 10:09am

I agree. Just making sure you weren't thinking crazy. Getting back up to where it was last year would be good.

Pete

3/14/19 10:25am

Beginning in April the water level will start going up about a foot per day

UberDeek

3/14/19 10:10am

Wrong. It's never gone up that much and won't this year.

3/14/19 10:11am

Well, we can be optimistic 😁

UberDeek

3/14/19 10:12am

There's optimism (hoping for 50 foot rise) and then there's the impossible.

3/14/19 10:13am

Lake Powell is only used for power generation. Not drinking water.

Richbyu

3/14/19 10:05am

Except that Lake Mead loses way more to evaporation than Powell. It's over used

3/14/19 10:11am

Lake Powell loses more water than Lake Mead every year.

Richbyu

3/14/19 10:14am

The seepage though helps the other local areas though and seeps back into the

3/14/19 10:19am

The fact is. Lake Mead is more vital than Lake Powell.

Richbyu

3/14/19 10:21am

No it's not. It is the same water. Lake Mead has nothing if Lake Powell is dry.

JAGA97

3/14/19 11:18am

I'm not sure why people would want to boat in a bowel, granite or otherwise.

jdub

3/14/19 10:25am

Correct. Lake Powell loses 600,000 acre feet annually to seepage and evaporation.

Brisco

3/14/19 11:41am

The amount of seepage is disputed and I'm not sure anyone really knows how much water is lost in either lake.

Cosmodiar

3/14/19 11:49am

Well, hydrologists know exactly how much water enters each day and how much is discharged each day from both reservoirs.

Brisco

3/14/19 12:08pm

Evaporation and seepage are not easily measured. Lots of variables.

Pete

3/14/19 12:19pm

I find it funny people start caring about water when their recreation could

pink22

3/14/19 10:09am

So Lake Mead should receive as much water as it needs? Those dependent on it

JAGA97

3/14/19 10:17am

The only purpose of Lake Powell is power generation.

Richbyu

3/14/19 10:19am

It will soon be supplying water to Southern Utah. Utah has claims to the water

UberDeek

3/14/19 10:22am

Maybe.... I know they are trying to get a $2 Billion pipeline built...

Richbyu

3/14/19 10:25am

Lake Powell exists to store water

Littlerich

3/14/19 10:31am

....for hydroelectric power generation.

Richbyu

3/14/19 10:32am

All of your claims on this thread are bogus. Yes, Glen Canyon Dam does produce energy, but the primary function of

Pimpin4Paradise

3/14/19 10:49am

OK. So they are just storing water for boating, then.

Richbyu

3/14/19 10:50am

No. They're storing it for use during bad water years.

Pimpin4Paradise

3/14/19 10:51am

Use for what? How are they going to use the water?

Richbyu

3/14/19 10:52am

Dig your heels in and keep making terrible points. I think you're winning people over.

Pimpin4Paradise

3/14/19 10:55am

I'm simply stating the facts. Sorry the facts are upsetting you.

Richbyu

3/14/19 11:01am

It was built for both

shakarocks

3/14/19 11:08am

It would be great if California got on board with desalination.

Richbyu

3/14/19 11:10am

It's absolutely a viable option, it just costs about twice as much as pulling it from Mead. Hence the reason they'll

Pimpin4Paradise

3/14/19 11:16am

Water storage so People upriver can keep some of their water

Littlerich

3/14/19 6:47pm

And you make my point perfectly. The overuse of the water system is downstream.

JAGA97

3/14/19 10:45am

I guess some people downstream don't want to die.

Richbyu

3/14/19 10:48am

Then their leaders need to make better decisions. Because in the end there is

JAGA97

3/14/19 10:50am

Looks like the powers that be have decided to just give more water to Lake Mead

Richbyu

3/14/19 10:52am

Yep. And some people support their actions of running deficits.

JAGA97

3/14/19 10:53am

This is correct

shakarocks

3/14/19 11:00am

This is the whole point. California demands more than their share because their demand continues to increase. They can't

Pimpin4Paradise

3/14/19 11:05am

Do you know how much de-salinization of seawater costs? California farmers would lose their shirts.

Brisco

3/14/19 11:28am

$0.50- $2.00 dollars more per thousand gallons

shakarocks

3/14/19 11:39am

Also the Central Valley gets its water from reservoir systems in NoCal

shakarocks

3/14/19 11:45am

De-salinized water costs 275x as much as regular irrigation water in CA.

Brisco

3/14/19 12:01pm

Read this

shakarocks

3/14/19 12:33pm

That's written from Quora. Not the best source...

trom2foot3

3/14/19 12:37pm

That’s laughably misinformed. It is approximately twice as expensive as normal watershed water. Nobody is suggesting

Pimpin4Paradise

3/15/19 8:49am

The last thing we need is to incentivize more people to live in the desert.

chilango

3/14/19 11:54am

So, you are against the $2 Billion pipeline to St. George?

Richbyu

3/14/19 11:59am

I’m against government subsidies, especially when they subsidize bad behavior,

chilango

3/14/19 12:08pm

Where does Phoenix get their water?

Richbyu

3/14/19 11:34pm

Mostly from the Central Arizona Project and Salt River Project, I believe.

chilango

3/15/19 2:06am

RE: So, you are against the $2 Billion pipeline to St. George?

davemishsr

3/15/19 11:21am

Cedar City?

Richbyu

3/15/19 11:50am

This. Market rates for water are the answer. Just like they are for everything.

jvquarterback

3/15/19 2:32pm

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