Lake Mead

[vi edit]

Since we've morphed beyond Mead, if CA is having so many ppower and water problems, why are they closing 4 dams?

Plan to raze 4 dams on California-Oregon line clears hurdle

A proposal to bring down four hydroelectric dams near the California-Oregon border has cleared a major regulatory hurdle

abcnews.go.com

Did you read your own article?

"The dams don't store agricultural water, aren't used for flood control and aren’t part of the 200,000-acre Klamath Project, an irrigation project further north that straddles the Oregon-California border. Removing the structures would affect homeowners who live around man-made lakes created by the dams.

If the dams remained, PacifiCorp would likely have to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to retrofit the structures to comply with today's environmental laws. As it is, the utility has said the electricity generated by the dams no longer makes up a significant part of its power portfolio."

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

Why dont we just build a pipeline from the great lakes to cali?

Probably been too expensive, though iirc we do pipe water in from places around CA/the midwest, mainly the lakes that are now running dry.

 

[Jhhnn]

Since we've morphed beyond Mead, if CA is having so many ppower and water problems, why are they closing 4 dams?

Plan to raze 4 dams on California-Oregon line clears hurdle

A proposal to bring down four hydroelectric dams near the California-Oregon border has cleared a major regulatory hurdle

abcnews.go.com

Did you not read your own link?

 

[obidamnkenobi]

Why dont we just build a pipeline from the great lakes to cali?

Yes. The fox ravaged one hen house, let's give him access to another, bigger one..

No! Children need to show they are ready, and have learned a lesson, before they are trusted with greater responsibility.

 

[Zorba]

Why dont we just build a pipeline from the great lakes to cali?

Do the math on how big that pipeline would have to be. Just the canals around Fresno are ~20 feet wide and 6’ deep. We are talking about a Colorado River size pipeline spanning 1,000 miles and climbing at least a mile in elevation.

 

[Zorba]

Do the math on how big that pipeline would have to be. Just the canals around Fresno are ~20 feet wide and 6’ deep. We are talking about a Colorado River size pipeline spanning 1,000 miles and climbing at least a mile in elevation.

Okay, I did the math. Assuming you completely replace the Lake Mead flow of 9.8M acre-feet/yr. You'd need a 60 foot diameter pipeline, the never had down time.



Even if you just made up for the current annual deficit it would need to be 21 feet in diameter.



The pumping energy would likely represent at least a few new nuclear power plants.

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

Besides that, why would the Great Lake states and Canada even agree to it?

 

[Hans Gruber]

It makes more sense to send the water from the Columbia River in Washington state. They need to reroute the Columbia River from Hanford which is a superfund site. We also need a pipe from the Pacific through all the rivers and stream along the journey for salmon. There is an unlimited supply of fresh water there. We have these rivers that flood every season in Washington. They could build overflow (parallel to rivers) pipelines that run empty and dry until the flood season. When the rivers flood they would channel excess water through gates along rivers that would open during flood conditions. They could feed into the Columbia pipeline.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

It makes more sense to cut off CA, AZ and NV from use of excess water, not local to them. If it isn't in your immediate area, tough noogies.

 

[feralkid]

Why dont we just build a pipeline from the great lakes to cali?

Because we don't have shit for brains?

 

[Roger Wilco]

How far are we from this?

 

[manly]

Pretty sure it's still cheaper to ship snow from canada by train than it is to desalinate ocean water to the levels it'd require for our southwest needs.

Really this whole thing is like watching someone play a civ game that's terrible at it. Like missing all the terrain bonuses, ignoring logical places for cities, industry, etc. Put people where there's no food or water? Sure! Put crops where there's no water? Sure! Solar panels in the desert? WHOA NOW, NO CRAZY TALK ROUND HERE.

Is it really cheaper to send snow over distance by rail?? It seems pretty obvious to me that long-term, California will have substantial desalination plants.

Outside of the Southwestern deserts, most of the larger SW region is fairly hospitable. There's just too much population and agriculture for the available water to serve. Las Vegas and Phoenix metro areas are still growing briskly.

 

[Wreckem]

It makes more sense to cut off CA, AZ and NV from use of excess water, not local to them. If it isn't in your immediate area, tough noogies.

You are aware the water comes from the Colorado River and it is the border for all the states you are saying it’s not local to them. It’s part of their border, ie they are down stream. Which is why the federal government determines the allotment between the northern upstream states and the southern downstream states.

What we need to do is stop wasteful at practices. Growing nuts, alfalfa and corn in arid climates is stupid and wasteful.

 

[Wreckem]

Is it really cheaper to send snow over distance by rail?? It seems pretty obvious to me that long-term, California will have substantial desalination plants.

Outside of the Southwestern deserts, most of the larger SW region is fairly hospitable. There's just too much population and agriculture for the available water to serve. Las Vegas and Phoenix metro areas are still growing briskly.

Non ag use accounts for 20% of the use of the Colorado River water. Take out the commercial bottling of water and residential use from population growth is fairly small.

Ag is the main problem, followed buy commercial uses, and residential use is the least biggest concern.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

Is it really cheaper to send snow over distance by rail?? It seems pretty obvious to me that long-term, California will have substantial desalination plants.

Outside of the Southwestern deserts, most of the larger SW region is fairly hospitable. There's just too much population and agriculture for the available water to serve. Las Vegas and Phoenix metro areas are still growing briskly.

I was making a joke, desalination is incredibly energy intensive though. They do make use of it, but not nearly as much as simply draining lakes elsewhere.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

You are aware the water comes from the Colorado River and it is the border for all the states you are saying it’s not local to them.

LA and SD are not local to the Colorado.

 

[feralkid]

LA and SD are not local to the Colorado.

The State they are located in is.

 

[Roger Wilco]

Water levels still dropping crazy.

Per this guy’s viral videos, water has dropped ~6 feet just in the last month 😱.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1537899563649863681

 

[brycejones]

I'm curious what he expects the government to do.

 

[K1052]

I'm curious what he expects the government to do.

Will an unsustainable situation back into what we perceive as normal I guess. Somehow.

The places with money, like Southern California, are doing things though. They're investing heavily in water recycling projects having decided supplies of imported water might not always be available at historic levels.

 

[cytg111]

Water levels still dropping crazy.

Per this guy’s viral videos, water has dropped ~6 feet just in the last month 😱.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1537899563649863681

Hey. Maybe they’ll find some clean coal down there when its all dried up.

 

[sdifox]

Question for those familiar with the regions water supply.
What mitigation plans are in place?

The shocking numbers behind the Lake Mead drought crisis | CNN

The Lake Mead reservoir is poised to become the focal point of one of the country's most significant climate crises: water shortages in the West.

www.cnn.com

Keep pumping til the pump stops working.

 

[Dave_5k]

Keep pumping til the pump stops working.

And then dig deeper wells to drain limited groundwater reserves, undercutting neighbors, until the groundwater reservoirs are all also permanently depleted - down to several thousand feet underground. Then continue to whine about it and beg for further major government subsidies to truck in water to keep the almonds growing.

 

[Leeea]

Do the math on how big that pipeline would have to be. Just the canals around Fresno are ~20 feet wide and 6’ deep. We are talking about a Colorado River size pipeline spanning 1,000 miles and climbing at least a mile in elevation.

Sounds good.

Okay, I did the math. Assuming you completely replace the Lake Mead flow of 9.8M acre-feet/yr. You'd need a 60 foot diameter pipeline, the never had down time.

View attachment 45935

Even if you just made up for the current annual deficit it would need to be 21 feet in diameter.

View attachment 45936

The pumping energy would likely represent at least a few new nuclear power plants.

This is acceptable.

What we need to do is stop wasteful at practices. Growing nuts, alfalfa and corn in arid climates is stupid and wasteful.

If you think nuts and trees consume water, you should check out how much water is consumed by cattle and pork.

Your going after small potatoes while ignoring extreme waste in the ranching states.

 

[Jaskalas]

Maybe almonds should be grown where there is still an abundance of water. Obviously not California.