Officials fear 'complete doomsday scenario' for drought-stricken Colorado River

Speaking for those in Arizona I can tell you: the vast majority of yards here aren't grass, but rock and arid-friendly plants.
I really meant Vegas and In Cali, specifically the Lancaster area
 
States dependent on Colorado River required to conserve unprecedented amount of water in landmark deal

States will be required to conserve 3 million-acre-feet of water through 2026.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/states-de...nserve-unprecedented-amount/story?id=99509575

The three Colorado River lower basin states -- California, Nevada and Arizona -- will be required to conserve an unprecedented 3 million-acre-feet of water through 2026, the White House announced in a press release Monday.
 
California' reservoirs are now all maxed, and there's the re-formed Lake Tulare that's already the size of the Bay, and will double in size in a month.

So Cal ought to be able to re-route a lot of that excess water...for a couple of years.

I have a very good friend who owns a lot of central Cal farm land and his opinion is the state would rather flex draconian control than build reasonable systems to better capture and store water.

Lake Mead and Lake Powel are surging up big time, from historic lows. But always an open question how things will turn in the future. Only seems sensible to employ both conservation and better water retention efforts.
 
too many swimming pools and watered lawns
not enough rain
 
Yes the western states have been in a long-term dry period. Emphatically so. Yes better conservation efforts are needed. (And I believe a new water pipeline)

I'll also add this:
-Arizona, Utah and western Colorado just concluded one of the wettest Monsoon seasons of the past fifty years
-Even after the monsoon it's been above average rainfall here in Arizona and upriver of Lake Powell
-Snowpack in the Rockies is 112% of average as of today, 12/12/22 (https://snowpack.water-data.com/uppercolorado/index.php)

Also this:
Recently California was bumped up massively in its proportion of water rights to the Colorado. There are a lot of things going on, not all with water supply.
Man made climate change.
 
The climate is the same that is has always been. There is more water removed from the river but it has nothing to do with weather or climate changes.
:lmao2: And the earth is flat right?
 
Geographical history tells us rivers eventually dry up for a lot of reasons, mostly typical shifting of climate conditions. Or this could just be a temporary condition caused by transient drought.

But I agree we need a long term plan for the entire nation, not one that is a knee jerk reaction to a recent problem. We just had floods in Indiana last week from too much rain. We see this all the time. One area gets too much, another not enough. So why not begin building a system that allows us to shift water from one area to another? Eve if we invest in desalinization, which is a good idea, it would require some kind of system of viaducts to move that water to interior areas of the country.

Yes, this would be expensive. And yes, it would take years to build. And yes, it has been a long time since Americans have had the fortitude to stay the course on projects like this. But it is the right thing to do for the entire country and certainly more worthwhile than all the money we give away for much dumber causes.
 
Geographical history tells us rivers eventually dry up for a lot of reasons, mostly typical shifting of climate conditions. Or this could just be a temporary condition caused by transient drought.

But I agree we need a long term plan for the entire nation, not one that is a knee jerk reaction to a recent problem. We just had floods in Indiana last week from too much rain. We see this all the time. One area gets too much, another not enough. So why not begin building a system that allows us to shift water from one area to another? Eve if we invest in desalinization, which is a good idea, it would require some kind of system of viaducts to move that water to interior areas of the country.

Yes, this would be expensive. And yes, it would take years to build. And yes, it has been a long time since Americans have had the fortitude to stay the course on projects like this. But it is the right thing to do for the entire country and certainly more worthwhile than all the money we give away for much dumber causes.
agree on all of this. And sadly also agree that the likelihood of it happening is pretty slim
 
Nature does not always align with what we want.

My heart goes out to these people.
 

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