Colorado Gettin Pounded

[Slacker]

The Colorado Rockies have been getting pounded with snow the last couple days. Great news for the Colorado River system. Some areas are reporting over 3 ft. in the last 48 hours. They were at 97% snow pack before this storm. Now if the Sierras could do the same would be even better.

[McRib]

How much snow would it take to fill Powell and mead??

[HypNautic]

How much snow would it take to fill Powell and mead??

This will only go to Powell, probably raise the water 20-30'

[McRib]

This will only go to Powell, probably raise the water 20-30'

I'm sure but what would it take to fill both since Powell feeds mead?

sent from the poor house

[Slacker]

I'm sure but what would it take to fill both since Powell feeds mead?

sent from the poor house
It would take a few years or more with ABOVE average snow pack.

[Slacker]

This will only go to Powell, probably raise the water 20-30'

They will send some to Mead. It's called the "Equalazation Program" Yeah I know my spelling sucks,,,lol

[Stainless]

Great news! ;)


Bench race driver of the NHRA 16X Castrol GTX Mustang

[Ziggy]

Let the western watershed Rockies get hammered with as much snow as possible....that's all I got to say.

[gn7]

I'm sure but what would it take to fill both since Powell feeds mead?

sent from the poor house

It would take a shit load of water.
If Lake Mead was empty and Powell was overflowing, you'd still be about 2 billion acre feet short of filling Mead.
and
However, anything is possible. In 1983 the dipshits misread the snow pack big time, and held water in Powell. The enduro was held in April that year if I am not mistaken, and they asked the Dept of Conservation to raise the level of the Parker strip for the race. They said they couldn't afford the water.
A couple months later, tropical rains, and unusally hot weather started melting the misread snow pack, and Lake Powell was rising 3ft a day, with the turbines is free spin, and the 20ft jet ways wide open. They called for all down stream dams to start unloading water at max capacity.
Powell used temporary steel plates to raise the spillway level 12ft which was incredibly dumb and dangerous move. They still lost. It over ran the spillways, and the resulting water flow was so fast it started cavitating in the tunnels and ripped the concrete out the spillway tunnels, eventually eroding the spillway tunnels an additional 20 ft in diameter, undercutting the earth the dam was locked into, and well as the violent shaking the whole dam was experiencing was threatening the footing under the dam. I don't think people realize how close they came to losing that dam.

Mead overflowed, which its spillways, like Parkers are right over the top across the road and down the face. Powells spillways are diversion tunnels around the dam.
Parker overflowed and wiped out houses on the strip, and the eventually ended up in Mexico, where it drowned people that had taken residence along the dry river bed. They never did bother to warn them it was coming, or never thought it would make it that far.

So, it COULD happen. But the stars all have to align, and its takes a monumental amount snow and rain. I wouldn't hold your breath for it.

[Slacker]

It would take a shit load of water.
If Lake Mead was empty and Powell was overflowing, you'd still be about 2 billion acre feet short of filling Mead.
and
However, anything is possible. In 1983 the dipshits misread the snow pack big time, and held water in Powell. The enduro was held in April that year if I am not mistaken, and they asked the Dept of Conservation to raise the level of the Parker strip for the race. They said they couldn't afford the water.
A couple months later, tropical rains, and unusally hot weather started melting the misread snow pack, and Lake Powell was rising 3ft a day, with the turbines is free spin, and the 20ft jet ways wide open. They called for all down stream dams to start unloading water at max capacity.
Powell used temporary steel plates to raise the spillway level 12ft which was incredibly dumb and dangerous move. They still lost. It over ran the spillways, and the resulting water flow was so fast it started cavitating in the tunnels and ripped the concrete out the spillway tunnels, eventually eroding the spillway tunnels an additional 20 ft in diameter, undercutting the earth the dam was locked into, and well as the violent shaking the whole dam was experiencing was threatening the footing under the dam. I don't think people realize how close they came to losing that dam.

Mead overflowed, which its spillways, like Parkers are right over the top across the road and down the face. Powells spillways are diversion tunnels around the dam.
Parker overflowed and wiped out houses on the strip, and the eventually ended up in Mexico, where it drowned people that had taken residence along the dry river bed. They never did bother to warn them it was coming, or never thought it would make it that far.

So, it COULD happen. But the stars all have to align, and its takes a monumental amount snow and rain. I wouldn't hold your breath for it.


I don't think it could happen at the present level which is 3578. In 1983 when it did happen the lowest level before that major melt and rains was at 3682, the highest level was July 14th 1983 was at 3708, 3700 was full pool at that time. Lake Powell rose 26ft. I remember when they did put those plates up which was really stupid, it was a mess. I lived up in the Rockies that year and during the melt it was pretty wild with flooding at the head waters of the Colorado. In Glen Canyon water was coming up on the highway in the east bound lane, it was only a two lane highway at that time. It would be interesting what the total rise of Powell would have been including the water that was let out, just curious.

[HypNautic]

They will send some to Mead. It's called the "Equalazation Program" Yeah I know my spelling sucks,,,lol

Politics is keeping Mead low. NV is trying to put in a 3rd "straw" into the lake. Easier to do with a low water level. Plus if the lake gets below emergency levels, NV can push for the pipeline down from Northern NV.
Equalization will be something like 80/20

[gn7]

Politics is keeping Mead low. NV is trying to put in a 3rd "straw" into the lake. Easier to do with a low water level. Plus if the lake gets below emergency levels, NV can push for the pipeline down from Northern NV.
Equalization will be something like 80/20

One thing that a lot of people sometimes don't stop to think about is that much of the water that leaves Mead is not water that was pumped out for watering lawns and flushing toilets. It was used to drive turbines for power. Having not having water at your tap in Vegas and no water is small potatoes compared to flipping your light switch in Los Angeles, and the lights don't go on.
At least it isn't lost water, because it does it again at Davis dam and Parker, before its pretty much handed to the Indians for irrigation.