Lake Mead water level up 5+ feet since July. But overall prediction is that it

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Mar 17, 2023
9:23:05am

UberDeek Truly Addicted User

will still drop this year as more water will be stored in Lake Powell

Uslakes

Lake Mead Water Level

Lake Mead Water Level including historical chart

https://mead.uslakes.info/level.asp

Southwest Utah is currently at 200% of normal, and a lot of that ends up in Mead, but it's not much compared to what the Colorado River brings.

This message has been modified

Originally posted on Mar 17, 2023 at 9:23:05am

Message modified by UberDeek on Mar 17, 2023 at 9:23:20am

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UberDeek

Previous username: PrimeQuantumDeek
Bio page: UberDeek
Joined: Feb 27, 2011
Last login: May 28, 2023
Total posts: 56,081 (14,793 FO)

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Messages

Author

Time

Lake Mead water level up 5+ feet since July. But overall prediction is that it

UberDeek

Mar 17, 9:23am

Really? I thought (and maybe I'm wrong) that Powell was going to suffer in order to fill Mead.

RSL

Mar 17, 9:26am

Powell is closer to dead pool than Mead

UberDeek

Mar 17, 9:27am

Powell and Mead are both sitting at about 150 feet above dead pool. Powell is a slightly smaller reservoir so based on

scall

Mar 17, 9:32am

I think the idea is that you can always send water downhill but can't send it...

mang

Mar 17, 10:54am

What is the prediction for Powell this year?

cougaman

Mar 17, 9:27am

Lake Powell watershed is at 142% of normal. Predictions are 45 feet +/-

UberDeek

Mar 17, 9:28am

And that’s with holding some water back from mead? Hopefully we get a few years

cougaman

Mar 17, 9:32am

If next year were like this year, we would be normal again in the West

bluelands

Mar 17, 9:46am

I wouldn't count on all time records happening consecutively- though in the mid 80s

BeyondTheMark

Mar 17, 10:19am

Nope. Just a what if

bluelands

Mar 17, 10:47am

4 Mega winters (like this year) in a row would probably do it-

scall

Mar 17, 10:55am

Man, 50 feet of water in a reservoir like Powell is a LOT of water.

RSL

Mar 17, 10:58am

It's almost unfathomable when you start trying to quantify it. Especially with how "little" rain and snow the west gets

scall

Mar 17, 11:14am

If everything is already full, it all ends up in Mead

bluelands

Mar 17, 11:02am

But the point is Powell won't fill until year 3. Mead wouldn't fill until year 4.

scall

Mar 17, 11:13am

And remember, the first 50 is a lot easier than the last 50

mang

Mar 17, 11:23am

Surface elevation isnt a great way to quantify improvement, especially at Powell

Backcountry

Mar 18, 9:51am

Colorado has had a really good last few weeks. All of their basins that feed into the Colorado system are 127-155% of

SingleStrapBackpack

Mar 17, 9:34am

The water levels are very close to 2017- that year Powell rose 50 feet and Mead rose 30 feet.

scall

Mar 17, 9:37am

I'm sure the predictions I'm reading haven't been updated. Looks like they were

UberDeek

Mar 17, 9:38am

The key is to get multiple years of this, hopefully.

Adwight

Mar 17, 9:39am

Like 4 straight years of this would get us back to full pool at both reservoirs.

scall

Mar 17, 9:40am

Rain expected next week M-W in southern Utah at least.

cougaman

Mar 17, 9:40am

Back in 2005 when St George had floods for a week. It rose the water level at

UberDeek

Mar 17, 9:41am

That was so fun.

Backcountry

Mar 17, 9:43am

I thought Lake Mead was the more efficient storage location?

BYU Robert

Mar 17, 9:51am

Interesting. Mead has a much larger surface area and probably loses more to

Backcountry

Mar 17, 10:11am

Lake Mead has a surface area of 247 sq. mi. Lake Powell’s is 266. Mead may have a greater storage capacity, however.

Brisco

Mar 17, 10:45am

Wow, didnt expect that.

Backcountry

Mar 17, 6:41pm

Yeah, the massive evap losses are the best argument on the side of those who argue that Powell and Mead should never

SingleStrapBackpack

Mar 18, 9:43am

You’re right.

Brisco

Mar 17, 10:47am

Here's little blurb about it. Really fascinating stuff:

scall

Mar 17, 11:00am

And see also:

Lake Mead Water Level

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