The damming and diverting of the Colorado, the nation’s seventh-longest river, may be seen by some as a triumph of engineering and by others as a crime against nature, but there are ominous new twists. The river has been running especially low for the past decade, as drought has gripped the Southwest. It still tumbles through the Grand Canyon, much to the delight of rafters and other visitors. And boaters still roar across Nevada and Arizona’s Lake Mead, 110 miles long and formed by the Hoover Dam. But at the lake’s edge they can see lines in the rock walls, distinct as bathtub rings, showing the water level far lower than it once was—some 130 feet lower, as it happens, since 2000. Water resource officials say some of the reservoirs fed by the river will never be full again.
Thank you. Very interesting. Not sure what I think about all of this yet. The timing of it seemingly starting to reach it's problematic phase is interesting IMHO. Especially when spanning a timeline of this length.
Also just found this comment on another video I found.
Recently the "ownership" of the hydro part of the dam was handed over from the feds to a private group of rich people. Before, power generation was secondary. Now they are all about max profits, let er rip, most flow possible thru the generators. This same group got several surrounding coal fired power plants and a nuclear plant taken offline so they could maximize profits from the dam. Since the transfer the water losses have increased regardless of water level.
The damming and diverting of the Colorado, the nation’s seventh-longest river, may be seen by some as a triumph of engineering and by others as a crime against nature, but there are ominous new twists. The river has been running especially low for the past decade, as drought has gripped the Southwest. It still tumbles through the Grand Canyon, much to the delight of rafters and other visitors. And boaters still roar across Nevada and Arizona’s Lake Mead, 110 miles long and formed by the Hoover Dam. But at the lake’s edge they can see lines in the rock walls, distinct as bathtub rings, showing the water level far lower than it once was—some 130 feet lower, as it happens, since 2000. Water resource officials say some of the reservoirs fed by the river will never be full again.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-colorado-river-runs-dry-61427169/
October 2010
Thank you. Very interesting. Not sure what I think about all of this yet. The timing of it seemingly starting to reach it's problematic phase is interesting IMHO. Especially when spanning a timeline of this length.
No problem. Absolutely agreed
Also just found this comment on another video I found.