Start praying for rain.
The American West will face a dire emergency in the next few years if the current drought continues. This is a very well written, fairly balanced article that describes how the drought is causing political schisms in the management of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and its focal point, Lake Powell.
Lake Powell is disappearing at an alarming rate. The ongoing drought in western states is slowly taking back the canyons that the lake covered at fill-level. Some people want to drain the lake; other people want it to remain. It is a heated issue here in the four corners region. With the lake now at 42% of its fill level, with two more years of this drought, the electric turbines will not have enough water passing through to create electricity. If that occurs, the primary reason for making the dam in the first place will be a moot point.
On a recent road trip, we drove past Hite Marina. There was no lake. The view that met us was the mighty Colorado River. Hite's boat ramp was extremely high and dry. It was thrilling in that the last time I drove past Hite, the lake was still very much there. I couldn't believe the changes that had occurred in just over five years.
Most people thought the drought would be over by now; however, it's turning into a crisis of biblical proportion in the west. The City of Las Vegas is offering tax breaks to home-owners that tear out their grass and install xeriscaping (a landscaping style that uses water-friendly native plants, like yucca and cactus). Large casinos on the strip, however, are still using up water like it's going out of style. Let's say the MGM is sold out; imagine how much water 5,000+ toilets flushing uses. And that's just one hotel. More and more people are moving to Las Vegas every month; Phoenix has seen phenomenal growth in the last decade, and LA just doesn't stop. They ALL depend on the Colorado River. What mayhem could be served up in the next few years if the drought continues?
Moving to the southwest from Kansas, I had no idea water was such a big deal. Well, it is. Imagine moving to place where there is a moratorium on water meters. Unless you buy property with a city water meter, you aren't getting one if you plan to build. This is a reality in my town. Imagine living in a town where the water used is brought in by large trucks every hour, from the next town to the south. This is how I lived when I worked at Grand Canyon.
If the drought continues, I predict the Colorado River Compact will have to be amended. A great book that clearly explains all the water issues in the west is Marc Reisner's "Cadillac Desert." PBS made a mini-docu-series out of the book that was just as interesting.
Glen Canyon Institute wants to drain Lake Powell and let nature restore Glen Canyon. There is another splinter group that would just like the lake to remain at 50% of fill-level. This would actually help conserve the lake's water that evaporates at a stunning 800,000 acre-feet a day at full capacity (after all, the area is a desert), and it would uncover some of the upper canyons that have been under water since 1980. This would also open up more hiking and kayaking/river running recreation, and still allow the dam to create electricity. I'm not sure how the management of Glen Canyon/Lake Powell will be handled in the coming years, but the reality of the situation is this: a few thousand recreational hikers who want to drain the lake are up against hundreds of thousands of boaters and jet skiers, the town of Page, Arizona, and some 400,000 electricity customers, not to mention the Bureau of Reclamation.
In two years' time, perhaps the drought will settle this issue once and for all.
Lake Powell is disappearing at an alarming rate. The ongoing drought in western states is slowly taking back the canyons that the lake covered at fill-level. Some people want to drain the lake; other people want it to remain. It is a heated issue here in the four corners region. With the lake now at 42% of its fill level, with two more years of this drought, the electric turbines will not have enough water passing through to create electricity. If that occurs, the primary reason for making the dam in the first place will be a moot point.
On a recent road trip, we drove past Hite Marina. There was no lake. The view that met us was the mighty Colorado River. Hite's boat ramp was extremely high and dry. It was thrilling in that the last time I drove past Hite, the lake was still very much there. I couldn't believe the changes that had occurred in just over five years.
Most people thought the drought would be over by now; however, it's turning into a crisis of biblical proportion in the west. The City of Las Vegas is offering tax breaks to home-owners that tear out their grass and install xeriscaping (a landscaping style that uses water-friendly native plants, like yucca and cactus). Large casinos on the strip, however, are still using up water like it's going out of style. Let's say the MGM is sold out; imagine how much water 5,000+ toilets flushing uses. And that's just one hotel. More and more people are moving to Las Vegas every month; Phoenix has seen phenomenal growth in the last decade, and LA just doesn't stop. They ALL depend on the Colorado River. What mayhem could be served up in the next few years if the drought continues?
Moving to the southwest from Kansas, I had no idea water was such a big deal. Well, it is. Imagine moving to place where there is a moratorium on water meters. Unless you buy property with a city water meter, you aren't getting one if you plan to build. This is a reality in my town. Imagine living in a town where the water used is brought in by large trucks every hour, from the next town to the south. This is how I lived when I worked at Grand Canyon.
If the drought continues, I predict the Colorado River Compact will have to be amended. A great book that clearly explains all the water issues in the west is Marc Reisner's "Cadillac Desert." PBS made a mini-docu-series out of the book that was just as interesting.
Glen Canyon Institute wants to drain Lake Powell and let nature restore Glen Canyon. There is another splinter group that would just like the lake to remain at 50% of fill-level. This would actually help conserve the lake's water that evaporates at a stunning 800,000 acre-feet a day at full capacity (after all, the area is a desert), and it would uncover some of the upper canyons that have been under water since 1980. This would also open up more hiking and kayaking/river running recreation, and still allow the dam to create electricity. I'm not sure how the management of Glen Canyon/Lake Powell will be handled in the coming years, but the reality of the situation is this: a few thousand recreational hikers who want to drain the lake are up against hundreds of thousands of boaters and jet skiers, the town of Page, Arizona, and some 400,000 electricity customers, not to mention the Bureau of Reclamation.
In two years' time, perhaps the drought will settle this issue once and for all.
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