The Colorado River is a magnificent river and has been a loyal partner to an American West that grows even today. Besides the people that rely on the river for water and professions there are numerous creatures that call the river home. This drought has been hard on them and now it is threatening the people themselves.
But, there are a few things to consider. This is not a short read necessarily.
December 1, 2022
By Joshua Partlow
The 1,450-mile river starts in the Colorado Rockies and ends in the Sea of Cortez in Mexico. There are more than a dozen dams along the river, creating major reservoirs such as Lake Powell and Lake Mead....
By Joshua Partlow
Page, Arizona - The first sign of serious trouble (click here) for the drought-stricken American Southwest could be a whirlpool.
It could happen if the surface of Lake Powell, a man-made reservoir along the Colorado River that’s already a quarter of its former size, drops another 38 feet down the concrete face of the 710-foot Glen Canyon Dam here. At that point, the surface would be approaching the tops of eight underwater openings that allow river water to pass through the hydroelectric dam.
The normally placid Lake Powell, the nation’s second-largest reservoir, could suddenly transform into something resembling a funnel, with water circling the openings, the dam’s operators say....
..Anxiety about such outcomes has worsened this year as a long-running drought has intensified in the Southwest. Reservoirs and groundwater supplies across the region have fallen dramatically, and states and cities have faced restrictions on water use amid dwindling supplies. The Colorado River, which serves roughly 1 in 10 Americans, is the region’s most important waterway.
It could happen if the surface of Lake Powell, a man-made reservoir along the Colorado River that’s already a quarter of its former size, drops another 38 feet down the concrete face of the 710-foot Glen Canyon Dam here. At that point, the surface would be approaching the tops of eight underwater openings that allow river water to pass through the hydroelectric dam.
The normally placid Lake Powell, the nation’s second-largest reservoir, could suddenly transform into something resembling a funnel, with water circling the openings, the dam’s operators say....
..Anxiety about such outcomes has worsened this year as a long-running drought has intensified in the Southwest. Reservoirs and groundwater supplies across the region have fallen dramatically, and states and cities have faced restrictions on water use amid dwindling supplies. The Colorado River, which serves roughly 1 in 10 Americans, is the region’s most important waterway.
The 1,450-mile river starts in the Colorado Rockies and ends in the Sea of Cortez in Mexico. There are more than a dozen dams along the river, creating major reservoirs such as Lake Powell and Lake Mead....
To begin the Upper Colorado has a snow pack that will melt come spring and supply water to the river and below. Currently, the early stages of the snow pack are following the trend in 2020. That is not an optimistic point of view, but, may provide relief to some extent.
This is only December and we have a way to go yet so optimism is not the way to view the dam and it's porous rock.
On that graph 2017 and 2019 has seen the highest snow pack, but, it has not returned to that level since. The trend is more the 2018, 2021 and 2022 accumulations. I do not expect the snow pack to return to higher levels. The amount for December 2023 shows the trend is still down from those maximums. The current levels look similar to 2020, however, there is still a chance it will drop to the power snow pack amounts. I do not believe it will fall below the snow pack of 2018.
Now, as to the Powell Dam. It has always been a problem. Always and everyone involved with the dam knows it. They have known it from the beginning.
The picture to the right is an overhang of red sandstone at Lake Powell.
Lake Powell is a tier of rock, but, the largest part of the rock that surrounds the lake is "Navajo Sandstone." It appears on Page 4 of the "Rainbow of Rocks" article. Yes, there are people all over the USA and the world interested in rocks and not just as geological formations to find oil in the ground which were once dead dinosaurs.
The Navajo Sandstone is very porous. That means when the dam was built and the water started to accumulate there was an enormous amount of water that had to fill all that porosity before the lake level increased. Lake Powell is one of the most selfish lakes in the world simply because it requires enormous amounts of water to fill the shores first and then the lake.
That is probably clear as mud, so let me put it this way. You are coming home after an especially terrible day at work. All you could think of all day long was climbing into the tub, lighting some candles and adding your favorite bath salts. You arrive at the bathroom to find the tub has been replaced with a sponge lined ceramic modernized renovation. Your spouse is especially proud of the new design as it will cushion any fall. Not bad thinking really. So, you are the first to try it out.
You turn on the water to fill this new modern idea of a bathtub, but, it is taking longer than usual to fill it. See, the sponge lining has it's price. It has to be saturated first before the level in the tub rises. You have lighted your candles and are waiting to put the bath salts in the tub, but, it is taking a long time and it is rather frustrating.
That, my friend is Lake Powell. It has to absorb a lot of water before it fills the shores to deliver water to the hydroelectric power dam. Lake Powell's rock formation is sandstone. Sandstone has it's price.
It, for the most part, regardless of the frustration in filling it initially has not been as much an issue as today. Drought is forcing everyone involved to take a look at that beautiful lake and it's magnificent rock and ask what can be done?
Now, AI folks will be coming to the rescue to increase the dams efficiency. And all those engineers currently worried will be looking at improving the performance of the dam, but, what if after all that there is still a problem? The obvious answer to me regardless of the horrible impact of such an act is to line the lake with white concrete.
It is an outrageous idea that no one will even entertain, but, if one is talking about electric power to millions of Americans it is definitely in the running of a myriad of answers to this problem.
The dark stand stone now only absorbs water, it absorbs heat making the drought even worse as the water evaporates with hot temperatures. White color will cool the land surrounding the lake and change the dynamics of water retention in the basin which is Lake Powell. It is not a minor change. There are all sorts of wildlife in and around that lake. Change in albedo will change the daytime and nighttime temperatures in the area. It is not a minor consideration at all.
The concrete is almost a no brainer, it will be far less permeable and remove the issues with sandstone that has plagued Lake Powell since it's inception. When producing hydroelectricity every inch counts in the case of drought.
The project of this enormity may be untenable simply because it may require building coffer dams to temporarily wall off the water to pour the concrete. The issue is enormous and I do not envy anyone making decisions.
But, at this point it is a wait and see to decide what the snow pack is looking like and how much of it will make its way to the lake.
This is a climate crisis and it is more or less becoming a climate emergency. There are a few factors that are dictating avoiding radical changes in what we do with issues such as large lakes like Powell. This is an illustration of how ridiculously expensive surviving this climate crisis might cost. But, lives are at stake and it is completely impractical to shutdown towns and states and move all those people, economy and culture to places in the country where they won't be effected. Some of that might already be underway by personal choices, but, currently there is no such policy by the government to do so.
