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

Mar 17, 2023
11:00:47am

scall Cog in the Machine

New Study Quantifies Water Lost to Seepage at Lake Powell

The new study in the Journal of the American Water Resources Association estimates about 380,000 acre-feet of water a year is lost when it soaks into the…

https://www.kuer.org/energy-environment/2013-07-05/new-study-quantifies-water-lost-to-seepage-at-lake-powell

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scall

Bio page: scall
Joined: Nov 9, 2006
Last login: Apr 19, 2024
Total posts: 58,115 (25,571 FO)

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Messages

Author

Time

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

UberDeek

3/17/23 9:23am

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

RSL

3/17/23 9:26am

Powell is closer to dead pool than Mead

UberDeek

3/17/23 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

3/17/23 9:32am

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

mang

3/17/23 10:54am

What is the prediction for Powell this year?

cougaman

3/17/23 9:27am

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

UberDeek

3/17/23 9:28am

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

cougaman

3/17/23 9:32am

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

bluelands

3/17/23 9:46am

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

BeyondTheMark

3/17/23 10:19am

Nope. Just a what if

bluelands

3/17/23 10:47am

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

scall

3/17/23 10:55am

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

RSL

3/17/23 10:58am

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

scall

3/17/23 11:14am

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

bluelands

3/17/23 11:02am

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

scall

3/17/23 11:13am

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

mang

3/17/23 11:23am

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

Backcountry

3/18/23 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

3/17/23 9:34am

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

scall

3/17/23 9:37am

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

UberDeek

3/17/23 9:38am

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

Adwight

3/17/23 9:39am

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

scall

3/17/23 9:40am

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

cougaman

3/17/23 9:40am

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

UberDeek

3/17/23 9:41am

That was so fun.

Backcountry

3/17/23 9:43am

I thought Lake Mead was the more efficient storage location?

BYU Robert

3/17/23 9:51am

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

Backcountry

3/17/23 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

3/17/23 10:45am

Wow, didnt expect that.

Backcountry

3/17/23 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

3/18/23 9:43am

You’re right.

Brisco

3/17/23 10:47am

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

scall

3/17/23 11:00am

And see also:

New Study Quantifies Water Lost to Seepage at Lake Powell

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