Lake Mead Before and After the Epic Drought

[Achilleslastand]

Pics inside...
Lake Mead before and after: Colorado River basin losing water at shocking rate.

The scenarios only get worse from there. According to a New York Times interview with John Entsminger of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, “If Lake Mead goes below elevation 1,000, we lose any capacity to pump water to serve the municipal needs of seven in 10 people in the state of Nevada.” City of Las Vegas, consider this your official warning

[Pete]

It's really bad here in the west...

Every May, I do a triathlon near Paso Robles, which is about halfway between L.A. and San Francisco and right in the heart of California's agricultural region.

In 2013, things were pretty normal. Lake was pretty full and when you ended the swim there was a short run up the boat ramp to transition to get your bike. In 2014, the lake had receded so far that you had to run 1.5 miles to get to transition.

Most fruits and veggies in the U.S. come from this region, and due to the terrible drought, they've been pumping a tremendous amount of groundwater.

The water table is dropping rapidly and it's starting to show in pretty scary ways. Thus far, our winter (the only time we get rain) has been below average and thus the drought just continues to get worse.

[bradh]

Pete, how does the protection of the delta smelt affect the water needs of those farmers? I have read some articles about it and it seems the fight is pretty fierce between interest groups.

[Martin]

[Mel]

Gotta keep the Las Vegas golf courses green and the fountains flowing.

[ljbab728]

Gotta keep the Las Vegas golf courses green and the fountains flowing.

The water in those fountains is recirculated and insignificant when worrying about water use.

[Plutonic Panda]

The water in those fountains is recirculated and insignificant when worrying about water use.

Do you realize how much water those fountains use and how much is lost to evaporation? It most certainly is not insignificant.

[ljbab728]

Do you realize how much water those fountains use and how much is lost to evaporation? It most certainly is not insignificant.

Yes, I know and it is definitely insignificant in the context of what is being discussed here. My first of many, many trips to Vegas was over 50 years ago so I suspect I have a little more knowledge of what happens there than you do.

[RadicalModerate]

Dang. No S*it. I guess I'll quit waterin' my pet lawn and rakin' leaves and simply hope that Nature will take Nature's Course.

[Plutonic Panda]

Dang. No S*it. I guess I'll quit waterin' my pet lawn and rakin' leaves and simply hope that Nature will take Nature's Course.

or you could, you know, plant. . . . plants that are, dare I say it, native and adapted to this place on the map we call Oklahoma and its climate? Just a thought.

[Plutonic Panda]

Yes, I know and it is definitely insignificant in the context of what is being discussed here. My first of many, many trips to Vegas was over 50 years ago so I suspect I have a little more knowledge of what happens there than you do.

That's quite fine. I don't care how many times you have been to Las Vegas. Those water fountains are huge and you could live in the hotel and not grasp the concept of exactly how much water they hold.

After you take in the fact how much water every fountain holds, how much water the golf courses and other businesses use, not just in Vegas, but in Phoenix, Reno and other cities that were built in the desert, it does add up to amounts that could give people water for years and years to drink if we ever ran out. It is significant. You can make anything look insignificant when put in the certain context.

[kelroy55]

The Bellagio uses water from a private well beneath the property — the water source for the old Dunes golf course — and thus does not further strain the Colorado River, the primary source of water for the Las Vegas Valley.

How much water evaporates from the Bellagio fountains? - Las Vegas Sun News

The casinos with their splashy fountains aren't the real water wasters, since only 7% of the city's water goes to hotels and casinos on the Vegas strip, said Doug Bennett, conservation director at the Southern Nevada Water Authority.

The real bad guy? Lawn grass.

Vegas tries to kick its water addiction - CNN.com

[bombermwc]

Casinos also can use non-potable water. Really, they aren't the bad guys at all.

[Urbanized]

It's a chicken-or-egg thing, but the biggest problem is actually not water use, it's less and less snowpack it the Rockies. Of course, use will need to be curtailed to respond to this. The same lack of snowpack year after year is a huge contributing factor to our persistent drought in this part of the country. We need lots of evaporation west of us to feed our own climate. Lately it's no bueno.

[Zuplar]

Do you realize how much water those fountains use and how much is lost to evaporation? It most certainly is not insignificant.

For what it's worth I saw or read something a year or so ago on the fountains in Vegas. Now most fountains have built in sensors that lower how far they shoot up and how often they do when the wind picks up or it's extremely hot to decrease evaporation. They said at this point with all the new technology it is pretty insignificant.

Back in the day, it was a problem, not so much anymore. So in a way, you are both right.

[OKCisOK4me]

Pretty sad that the Colorado doesn't even make it to the Gulf of Mexico anymore.

[Buffalo Bill]

Pretty sad that the Colorado doesn't even make it to the Gulf of Mexico anymore.

Why? It hasn't since 1950.

[Tigerguy]

Well, this tends to happen when you build a city in the desert...

[bradh]

Pretty sad that the Colorado doesn't even make it to the Gulf of Mexico anymore.

Wrong Colorado river bud

[Martin]

Wrong Colorado river bud

actually... right river, wrong gulf. it should have read 'gulf of california'... the colorado river of texas makes it to the gulf of mexico just fine. -M

[bradh]

actually... right river, wrong gulf. it should have read 'gulf of california'... the colorado river of texas makes it to the gulf of mexico just fine. -M

barely, i remember reading something a while back about not enough fresh water reaching the estuaries down there (that could have been re: the Brazos, but I thought it was both)

[OKCisOK4me]

actually... right river, wrong gulf. it should have read 'gulf of california'... the colorado river of texas makes it to the gulf of mexico just fine. -M

Yes, wrong gulf. My bad. I was in an altered state of mind last night. But I knew what I was talking about ;-)

barely, i remember reading something a while back about not enough fresh water reaching the estuaries down there (that could have been re: the Brazos, but I thought it was both)

You are correct about a Colorado River in Texas. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_River_(Texas)