Colorado River conditions are worsening quicker than expected. Feds prepare to step in.
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Conrad Swanson
@Conrad_Swanson
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Hey folks, we took the paywall off this story to open it up to the, like, 40 million people it concerns. Take a look!
“It’s going to be ugly. The bottom line is there just isn’t going to be enough water available.”
denverpost.com
Colorado River conditions are worsening quicker than expected. Feds prepare to step in.
Running out of time and options to save water along the drying Colorado River, federal officials said they’re considering whether to release less water from the country’s two largest re…
9:16 AM · Nov 4, 2022
https://www.denverpost.com/2022/11/02/colorado-river-drought-powell-california-arizona/
No paywall cuz I still got one
https://archive.ph/CUChG
Running out of time and options to save water along the drying Colorado River, federal officials said they’re considering whether to release less water from the country’s two largest reservoirs downstream to Arizona, California and Nevada.
Without enough snow this winter, the water level at Lake Powell — the country’s second-largest reservoir — will drop below a critical level by next November, according to a new report from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Below that point, the Glen Canyon Dam will no longer be able to generate electricity and experts worry whether conditions will worsen to the point that the structure will no longer be able to send water downstream at all.
Conditions on the Colorado River are worsening quicker than expected. The seven states in the river basin made little progress saving water over the summer and Colorado is heading into its third La Niña winter in a row, likely indicating below-average snowpack. A worst-case scenario, once considered only as a hypothetical, now presents a very real threat.
“It’s going to be ugly,” Mark Squillace, a water law professor at the University of Colorado, said. “The bottom line is there just isn’t going to be enough water available.”
The path forward for Reclamation, the states and dozens of Native American tribes is narrowing, Brad Udall, a water and climate scientist with Colorado State University, said, calling the implications “beyond serious.”
*snip*
= new reply since forum marked as read
... instead of the oil? Heck, we could even build the XL extension for that!
For reference this shows the lines of the Keystone Pipeline that was under discussion in an earlier post. The Pipeline is entirely built and functional now, except for the green diagonal line (XL shortcut) that was never built and Biden has cancelled it. As the pipeline is now, it wouldn't be much help to the western states. There would have to be another line built to hook up with the Colorado River somewhere.
I don't see how they're not going to have to choose between Lakes Mead and Powell at some point. And to think there was talk about building a water pipeline from the Mississippi to the southwest. Rivers around the world are running dry. Maybe 8 billion miracles are enough.
They can't both go dead pool. Although eventually they both will.
Damming Glen Canyon was a crime. 
Last edited Fri Nov 4, 2022, 07:54 PM - Edit history (1)
...with little water available.
And we know who is to blame, don't we?
Biden!!!
After all, he personally caused the price of gas to go up, and he personally caused all this inflation, and he personally caused .... just everything bad.
On edit... 
for those who need it.
Curious guests who might not realize your jest.
Thanks for adding the “/s”!!!
I blame religious fundamentalists, Fox, and right wing talk radio for getting us here. 
