Drought.

[Timmy59]

they say that the mountains are getting record snowfall. will this be a source for a while to come for rivers and lakes?

The 10 foot snow cap is touched on in the above video.

 

[SoonerP226]

I have read that we are facing a 100 year drought, has anyone heard about this? The feds are talking about confiscating water in various states also.

A 100 year drought is certainly a possibility, although the drought we've been seeing would have to get quite a bit worse to even be the worst drought in the last 15 years. That is assuming they're using "100 year drought" in the climatological sense (a drought that, statistically, happens once in 100 years), and not trying to say we're going into 100 years of drought, or some nonsense like that.

As for the Feds confiscating water, that's pure clickbait. How would that even work, mechanically speaking? They're not going to build pipelines everywhere, and they don't have enough tanker capacity to do it--and even if they did, where would they take it?

 

[John6185]

As for the Feds confiscating water, that's pure clickbait. How would that even work, mechanically speaking? They're not going to build pipelines everywhere, and they don't have enough tanker capacity to do it--and even if they did, where would they take it?

rense.com › general80 › cpnCongress Moves To Seize Control Of All US Water - Rense​

Don't kid yourself, they are at least considering control or water resources. And if they don't think about it, they'll come up with something else. Fortunately, congress has changed sicne this article but it is there and they were discussing the water shortages-particularily in the western part of the US.

 

[Uncle TK]

When boulder dam was built it was estimated that 16 million acre feet of water flowed into Lake Meade
Water rights were divided up using 16 million acre feet of water (Based on Very Wet Years)
First In Time, First in Line (You cannot use more water than your allotment) (Imperial Valley uses most of the water they pay a fee to the All American Canal for their allotment)
But the average is 13 Million acre feet
So lake Meade's water level goes down 3 Million acre feet, plus evaporation

 

[TerryMiller]

Lake Mead water comes from the other direction though, very little from the west other than direct rainfall. Those California rains that just filled all their lakes and reservoirs needs to happen over the Rocky Mountains to affect Mead wouldn't it? California's water woes for drinking water and recreation purposes are two completely different things I would think.

Correct. Lake Mead's primary source is likely the Colorado River, which first has to "fill" Lake Powell over by Page Arizona. And last I heard, Lake Powell is also pretty low. I watched a video of some folks with watercraft took a trip to an area of Lake Powell that had been inaccessible for decades.

I don't know what kind of water agreements are in place for both lakes, but I would imagine that it is a nightmare to keep it all straight.

 

[dennishoddy]

That doesn't match what I'm hearing. But if the rains continue it of course a blessing and needed.

Some of the state's reservoirs have seen greater water level rises than others. The state's second largest reservoir by volume, Lake Oroville, north of Sacramento, saw water levels rise from 673 feet above sea level on December 26 to 735 feet today, January 9—an increase of 62 feet.

The state's largest reservoir—Shasta Lake—has also seen a significant rise in water level, at 21 feet. While most of California's major reservoirs are still below their historical averages, these increasing water levels are a good sign.

The table below shows the changes in the water level of the state's 15 largest lakes by volume, with water level measured in feet above average sea level.

Lake	Water Level (ft MSL) 12/26/22	Water Level (ft MSL) 01/09/23	Change in water level (ft)
Shasta Lake	921	942	+21
Lake Oroville	673	735	+62
Trinity Lake	2,189	2,204	+15
New Melones Lake	883	908	+25
San Luis Reservoir	412	430	+18
Don Pedro Reservoir	737	765	+28
Lake Berryessa*	394	401	+7
Lake Almanor	N/A	N/A	N/A
Folsom Lake	386	406	+20
Lake McClure	676	735	+59
Pine Flat Lake	766	801	+35
New Bullards Bar Reservoir	1,861	1,890	+29
Diamond Valley Lake	N/A	N/A	N/A
Lake Tahoe	6,223	6,224	+1
Lake Havasu	447	448	+1

Source: Lakes Online *Lake Berryessa data from Solano County Water Agency

What’s wierd about those severe storms is that they stop on the western slopes of the mountain ranges in commiefornika. They haven’t moved further east to help the Colorado River which keeps lake Powell and other big lakes used for irrigation.
Last time I was on Lake Powell in Utah three years ago it was almost 80’ below normal level and it got worse after that.
The Western slopes of the Rockies need ultra heavy rains. Eastern slopes for that matter do too.

 

[SoonerP226]

Don't kid yourself, they are at least considering control or water resources. And if they don't think about it, they'll come up with something else. Fortunately, congress has changed sicne this article but it is there and they were discussing the water shortages-particularily in the western part of the US.

Asserting control over water resources is not the same thing as confiscating it. Regardless, they already assert control over navigable waters, and they have been insanely broad in their definition of navigable, so the only thing left for them to control would be ground water, and nobody is going to sit still for that.

There’s always some yahoo in Congress who’s proposing legislation to do some stupid thing or another, and it almost all fails to go anywhere. The SCOTUS has also shown a definite recent tendency toward arresting overreach by the Feds—there is, I understand, a case currently before the Court specifically about curtailing the efforts by the EPA and Corps of Engineers to regulate wetlands.

 

[GeneW]

Well golley gee willikers, maybe if they got rid of the elebendy zillion illegal aliens occupying Whackycommiefornia they'd have more water for the AMERICANS living there. (not to mention the illegal aliens sucking up the electricity, gasoline, this that and the other) There would definitely be more water available the CITIZENS.

There's a LOT of other reasons why things are the way they are, but I don't have the patience to sit here and type for days and days.

 

[John6185]

Well golley gee willikers, maybe if they got rid of the elebendy zillion illegal aliens occupying Whackycommiefornia they'd have more water for the AMERICANS living there. (not to mention the illegal aliens sucking up the electricity, gasoline, this that and the other) There would definitely be more water available the CITIZENS.

There's a LOT of other reasons why things are the way they are, but I don't have the patience to sit here and type for days and days.

Now that makes sense! Congress whines about power grids failing, water shortages, gasoline shortages and food shortages but yet allows illegals to come into this country and use our resources that are in a precarious position even without additional people. This only hastens upcoming problems because congress has whined for decades about the power grids and have done nothing to alleviate the situation. Maybe, just maybe we'd be better off without politicians... I can't think of anything useful that they have done and spending money isn't useful.