Colorado basin according national Geographic

[3db]

I was at teh Dr office waiting fro my turn so after I woke up from my nap I decided to read a National Geopgraphic article about the Westenr states and the drought that is being experienced there. It also goes on to talk about the Colorado river and how the volume of water flowing through there has dropped signficantly. They did a study on drought sensitive trees, trees whose growth rings are tighter during drought and get larger during wet weather and realized that the Colorado river runs usually alot lower than it is currently and thats normal. The high water that was flowing during teh construction of the Hoover Dam and the decades that followed is considered abnormally high. The study of the trees incidated two megadroughts, one lasting 2 centuries and another 150 years during the midevil times. I'm wondering whats going to happen once the river drops even lower.

 

[highfigh]

I was at teh Dr office waiting fro my turn so after I woke up from my nap I decided to read a National Geopgraphic article about the Westenr states and the drought that is being experienced there. It also goes on to talk about the Colorado river and how the volume of water flowing through there has dropped signficantly. They did a study on drought sensitive trees, trees whose growth rings are tighter during drought and get larger during wet weather and realized that the Colorado river runs usually alot lower than it is currently and thats normal. The high water that was flowing during teh construction of the Hoover Dam and the decades that followed is considered abnormally high. The study of the trees incidated two megadroughts, one lasting 2 centuries and another 150 years during the midevil times. I'm wondering whats going to happen once the river drops even lower.

How close to the US/Mexico border are the trees? The Colorado used to flow into the Gulf of California before they started piping water to all of the SW states. They also vary the flow from the Glen Canyon dam greatly. I was rafting with a group of friends in the Grand Canyon in '97 and when we tied the rafts off for the evening, the water level was about 8'-10' lower than when we woke up the next morning. This was on a Sunday night and they increase the flow to accommodate the electricity demands of Vegas and L.A. during the week. The guides said the flow usually increases by about 8000 ft³/sec compared with weekend rates. I'd like to see data for how much water came into Lake Powell vs how much has been released over the last 40 years. The level of Lake Powell was more than 60' below average as of a few years ago and you can see a definite color change between the current level and the maximum in a wide band where minerals have leeched out.

 

[3db]

How close to the US/Mexico border are the trees? The Colorado used to flow into the Gulf of California before they started piping water to all of the SW states. They also vary the flow from the Glen Canyon dam greatly. I was rafting with a group of friends in the Grand Canyon in '97 and when we tied the rafts off for the evening, the water level was about 8'-10' lower than when we woke up the next morning. This was on a Sunday night and they increase the flow to accommodate the electricity demands of Vegas and L.A. during the week. The guides said the flow usually increases by about 8000 ft³/sec compared with weekend rates. I'd like to see data for how much water came into Lake Powell vs how much has been released over the last 40 years. The level of Lake Powell was more than 60' below average as of a few years ago and you can see a definite color change between the current level and the maximum in a wide band where minerals have leeched out.

Feb2008 issue I think it was of National Geographic

 

[Whitey80]

The diversion and use of the CO river definitely makes people living here pretty pissed, myself included. This is the only state that rivers only flow out of and none flow into. When we have a low snowfall year, we go on mandated water restriction (ie, if you're caught watering you lawn on any other day than the one alotted to you by the city, and during a banned time of day, you'll be given a hefty fine, and code enforcement patrols for it)
To ensure that we don't overuse water, they nearly triple the water service rate. All the while, the majority of our resource flows out to power cities in far off states.

 

[jostenmeat]

Water flows where the money is. I think of water as the future oil. I recently put a 2 liter bottle of water in a couple of toilet tanks, to conserve some more, and perhaps have some emergency water on hand.

Question regarding Powell, which I've not had the fortune of enjoying: Is it true that the water has been disappearing at a very quick rate because of the mineral/rock composition of the bed itself? (The water just soaks into it?) Well, someone said that once, but I was curious if someone knew better.

It's only 45 min long, but if you watch this IMAX bluray, you will sooooo want to get back to the GC/Lake Mead/etc in a hurry . . . and 3db would be very interested. They have historic photos, and they found the exact spots from where these old BW photos were taken, and so they can compare the two time periods. There is also some narrative about the great number of foreign species that are unfortunately thriving there. Music is all by Dave Matthews.