Water levels are going up in the West's massive reservoirs.
Has the water crisis been averted?
Historic snowfall across the Rocky Mountains is helping recharge some of the country's biggest reservoirs and provide – briefly – some much-needed breathing room for the oversubscribed Colorado River."
"Forecasts say the melting snow flowing into Lake Powell via the Colorado River and its tributaries could hit 177% of average this year, a major boost at a time when lake levels had hit historic lows. The levels are now headed up and will likely peak sometime in June, raising the surface by 50 feet.
"But experts say the boost won't solve or even significantly delay the West's water crisis that has drained the massive Lake Powell and Lake Mead reservoirs – Lake Powell will probably only be about 40% full this fall, far below what it once held."
"This buys a year," longtime Colorado River expert Brad Udall said. "It doesn't remotely come close to solving the long-term problems."
(He is 100% the guy to listen to in these matters, not the government, not the media, Mr. Udall.)
"The Upper Colorado Basin's snowpack stands at almost 160% above normal, meaning there's a significant amount of water that will melt and flow downstream into the river. Some of that water will be lost through evaporation or absorption into the dry soils, however."
"Colorado's snowpack is well above average, and Utah had its snowiest winter on record."
“This winter’s snowpack is promising and provides us the opportunity to help replenish Lakes Mead and Powell in the near-term – but the reality is that drought conditions in the Colorado River Basin have been more than two decades in the making,” said Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton in a statement."
"But overall, Colorado River flows have declined about 20% compared to historic flows, even with this year's record-breaking snowfall."
"At their lowest, Powell was just 23% full, while Mead dropped to 28%."
"Because the reservoirs are shaped like martini glasses, they hold significantly more water when they're closer to full. Combined, they are today only about 26% full."
"Experts don't expect them to ever be full again, however – the ongoing question is how to manage what water they do have for the benefit of as many Americans as possible."
"Udall, who studies the river at Colorado State University's Colorado Water Center, said this winter's snow is likely an aberration, and that long-term trends show the West is getting drier due to climate change. He said the only real solution is to use less water."
"Big snow years are happening half as often as they used to, while dry years are happening 2.5 times as often, he said."
"There's two important components to get to a better place," he said. "The first is wishing for high flow years and the other is cutting demand. And we only control one of them."
"Federal officials are developing a plan that would force the seven states and Native American tribes using Colorado River water to use less of it. The exact details are being worked out but could lead to significant cuts in both California and Arizona, which depend heavily on the river to irrigate crops from alfalfa to almonds, along with many of the vegetables Americans eat, especially in the winter."
And why even ask:
"Has the water crisis been averted?"
and show a picture like this:
right after your headline?
If an agenda wasn't being pushed?
They knew the answer to the question,
so why even ask it?
And that picture?
Just gonna make people breezing by it and the headline make people think on the surface of it? everything is better out west.
God will let Satan use the weather if it serves his purposes.
Job 1:18-19
While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, "Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brothers house, when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!"
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