7/20/16 update: I responded on Facebook to a water related post “What action has supervisor Jean Bishop taken? Anything?” and hope to hear from Ms. Bishop and from the other candidates.
9/10/16 update: NO response from re-elected supervisor Jean Bishop other than her “blocking” me on Facebook.
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An interesting article in the LA Times:
Facing historically low levels, Lake Mead officials are fending off a water war. Here’s how
Strangely, they don’t even MENTION Lake Powell.
How can they WASTE more water than Nevada gets from the Colorado?
Lake Powell
Water: Study identifies major ‘leakage’ from Lake Powell
… The porous sandstone along the shore of Lake Powell may soak up as much as 380,000 acre-feet of water each year — more than Nevada’s entire annual allocation of Colorado River water, according to a new study by hydrologist Thomas Myers. …
Could Draining Lake Powell Save Lake Mead?
… the Glen Canyon Institute, an environmental advocacy group, wants to eliminate the dam and restore Glen Canyon, and now it has a “pragmatic proposal” to do it.
“The inefficiencies that are created by these giant reservoirs — both Lake Mead and Lake Powell, and Lake Powell in particular — could be minimized if you combine the two reservoirs,” Lustgarten said, explaining the group’s position.
The “inefficiencies” include evaporation and leakage. The estimated the water savings would be enough to provide water for about 9 million people, he said.
The plan would open the gates at Glen Canyon Dam, draining Lake Powell and allowing its water to flow down river to Lake Mead. Besides saving water from evaporation and seepage, the plan would fill Lake Mead back up.
“And it would consolidate the water in Lake Mead that would allow the Hoover Dam to generate more power than it is currently able to, as well,” Lustgarten said.
I had about 6″ of water in one of my wheelbarrows last week and the water evaporated within a few days!
It’s time to let Lake Powell go
… And think of the water Lake Powell loses naturally. A 2011 article in the Journal of the American Water Resources Association found that every year, 260,000 to 390,000 acre-feet of water seeps into the ground from Lake Powell, and that filling Lake Mead first could save up to 300,000 acre-feet of water — an amount equivalent to Nevada’s entire yearly allotment.
Abrahm Lustgarten, author of ProPublica’s Killing the Colorado series, observes that “one single reservoir would introduce greater efficiency and reliability in the system. If you got rid of Lake Powell, the Colorado River would essentially have 6 percent more water overnight.”
Allowing Lake Powell to flow into Lake Mead would also normalize flows of water and sediment through Grand Canyon and much of Glen Canyon. This would mean Glen Canyon would transition from a reservoir destination to a world-class rafting and hiking destination. With low reservoir levels over the past decade, hundreds of miles of river and side canyons have already begun to be restored to their natural beauty. Anyone who’s hiked down to the Escalante River or floated Cataract Canyon recently knows this to be true. …
Sure, it’s nice to have all these lakes, but we just don’t have the water.
Update 9/10/16: Apparently the lack of water causes toxic blue-green algae in Lake Mead and Lake Mohave:
Lake Mead officials are fending off a water war — IGNORE Lake Powell
