Balancing Rain/Snow in Hoover Dam | Lake Mead UPDATE Fall 2023 Water Level & Winter Forecast
Welcome back River Watchers! In this update we’re going to look into the balancing act the USBR has begun trying to equalize water storage in our major reservoirs. In the "Basin Bin" segment today we're going to look into predictions for the coming winter, some excessive use bills, and new conservation measures taking place in the lower basin…
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Sources/Credits:
Farmers’ Almanac promises rain and snow for southern Nevada if El Niño develops
www.8newsnow.com/news/local-n...
Families hit with excess water use fees, high water bills plan to push back
www.fox5vegas.com/2023/07/22/...
City council votes to leave Phoenix’s Colorado River entitlement in Lake Mead
ktar.com/story/5502273/mayor-...
Nevada will get more water as drought restrictions change on Colorado River
www.8newsnow.com/news/local-n...
Storms cause $1 million worth of damage at Lake Mead
• Storms cause $1 millio...
Families hit with excess water use fees, high water bills plan to push back
• Families hit with exce...
Coyote Springs Nevada
• Coyote Springs Nevada
Lake Mead Water Level
mead.uslakes.info/Level
Lake Powell Water Level
powell.uslakes.info/Level
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Thank you for joining us in another update! 🌊🤠 New merch & artwork was just added to the Earthworks shop➡mojoearthworks.etsy.com - Behind the scenes, KZhead takes the majority of revenue from creators and are now asking channels to pay them directly for promotions to get views (double-dipping). We will NEVER pay for clicks. Instead, we ask that you please visit the merch page if you would like to support our work directly and help us continue! Short on change like many of us these days?? No worries! Liking, commenting, and sharing these videos is FREE and also helps us out just as well. Leave us your suggestions on what issues you would like to see covered next below!👇
If you conserve, why do you get to use it later ? ?
@@nickchoporis5901 That's just the rules of the old river compact, each state gets a set amount whether they use it all or not. Now if you're asking why water managers don't *willingly* return it... because it would just be wasted further downstream by other water districts and they get no compensation in return.
Las Vegas brings the water back to the system about 90% of the time and we are as efficient as we could hope others can be. We are not the problem California is and they are next to the ocean, build more desalinization plant.
How about a video of where Las Vegas used to get its water. i.e. the meadows and the underground aquafers (the pumps off Valley View and Charleston.
Ooooh that is a good one, thanks for the suggestion!👍 I actually started a video on that back when we created the channel but never worked on it since. Very interesting topic though, I might need to dig up the old project. They definitely weren't worried about running out of water back then!
Just think of the amount of beautiful fresh water that came from the snow melt that happened on the western side of the mountains that flowed straight out into the Pacific. California had more snow than ever seen in modern times and everything west of the divide was lost.
Las Vegas has implemented some of the best water conservation. They often are under their allocated water limit, which is very small compared to California. They are actually sending water back so if you’re pointing the finger at Las Vegas, you’re pointing in the wrong direction.
"they are often under their allocation". Actually, S. Nevada(Las Vegas) has never been over it's allocation, in fact, no agency or first rights holder would ever be "over" their allocation, they'd be sued and fined by the BOR pretty substantially. Speaking of Nevada(Las Vegas), that city only drafts about 2/3rds of it's allocation per the SNWA, often banking the rest in local aquifer's.
@@Bouncer-id1rh thanks for the info. I just seen a video about there water conservation that was implemented years ago. It showed how they were using the water very efficiently.the law if you have a pool, you have to keep it covered. only native grass around the highways, and the houses that are drought resistant they reuse their waste water fountains are all recycled water pretty stringent rules on the water usage in Vegas
@@fredrickemp7242 So let me explain their policies. Covered pools, or desert landscaping as examples aren't about "saving" water. It's about reducing per capita usage so the city can grow, all the while staying under it's tiny water allocation(1.8%). Vegas is projected to grow to 4 million people in the coming 1-2 decades. That growth will come by everyone else reducing their daily usage. The city actually doesn't have water issues, and that's the point of it's policies, is so they DON'T have water issues. So when you remove your lawn, again, it's not "saving water" it's just allowing for another home to built down the street. It was never about water issues, but always about sustainable growth while staying under it's water allocation.
@@Bouncer-id1rh All in all still sounds good. Because all the other places that are using it are not following any rules. And still expanding
@@fredrickemp7242 What places are you referring to as far as expanding?
El niÑo has been a blessing for California.
Absolutely excellent coverage - your brothers in Phoenix appreciate the SW water usage you are doing!
Thank you for the feedback downstream neighbor!👍
I live in Victoria BC Canada. We are experiencing a drought with very little rain this year. I’m almost 81 and have lived in Victoria all my life. I don’t remember going for such a long time without a lot of rain. 🇨🇦
Thank you watching and for that report! I will add Victoria to the list of places that are not faring well under El Niño this year. I like hearing from folks everywhere how the weather has been affected. I hope that things ease up for you there soon👍 It just got more seasonal (warm/dry) here so relief may be on the way soon!
Sept 10 - 2023 South California still so hot and humid ….. Can not wait for the winter …..
We got relief just this week- no more 100's. Hope it's on the way there 😎
That was a very informative experience. It is great to hear from the other side of the view.
Thank you for the update.
Excess use surcharges make complete sense. Anyone who doesn’t want to pay them can modify their own water use. It is a choice!
This is why I live on the North West the water goes down hill from us. We are dry In My neighborhood.
Installing grass and non-desert friendly vegetation in new residential developments in the Las Vegas valley has been banned since 2003 I believe. I don’t know if that applies to places like Lake Las Vegas as there seems to be a lot of grass and green landscape there, as well as golf courses.
I recently read an old book on the Colorado River basin, and what’s interesting is that California isn’t even in the basin. In other words, a place outside of the basin is getting more water than the places inside the basin that need it. While it’s true that they border the river, California has more options than we do in Arizona, and they should draw water from the basin they are a part of. In other words those areas that would naturally get water from a source if it were not diverted, should have priority.
Oldest water rights are a bit@h.
You nailed it! Isn't that interesting... piped all the way from the eastern land border to cities on the west coast. Looking back it doesn't make any sense now, but the huge push to make LA into what it is back then was just a continuation of "Manifest Destiny" using resources they didn't have. Out of all the cities using the Colorado River, LA is arguably the one that shouldn't have received any. If you are interested in learning more look into William Mullholland and all the water he took and distributed (in underhanded ways) to make LA and the San Fernando Valley farms. Thank you for watching! 👍
Most of the water going to California is for farming that benefits the whole U.S. So, California basically has federal support for water rights. We all know that what the fed says goes. So, I don’t think California is going to be losing water rights anytime soon. I think Nevada will be OK and Arizona will be the big loser because there really isn’t anything that exists there or is generated there that the country can’t live without.
@@brettvictory4606Actually, Arizona has a billion dollar ag industry. Yuma County where I live is the winter lettuce capital of the US. There’s also tons of alfalfa, wheat, cotton as well as cattle ranching and dairy farming in AZ. Personally, I manage a vegetable seed production company. We sell vegetable seed domestically as well as to 50+ countries. It’s just that AZ doesn’t get the spotlight CA does, because it’s a smaller state.
Another great video, thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it thanks for watching 👍
Glad to find the channel. New subscriber.
Welcome aboard! Thanks for checking out the update👍
EXCELLENT SHOW ENJOY THE UPDATES ON THE WATER SITUATION IN YOUR PART OF THE CONTINENT. PROPER USE OF WATER IS A MUST FOR ALL OF US. PAT AND DAN KERR, BRUCE MINES ONTARIO CANADA.
Thanks for the feedback! 😎 Bruce Mines as in the Simpson Copper Mine? That's right up out alley👍 Even though we are in "the silver state" I like copper deposits better... they produce the beautiful turquoise here. Cheers~
YES SIR, THAT'S THE MINE, GREEN AS IT GETS. HOW OFTER DO YOU PRODUCE A SHOW?
I usually do a Lake Mead update each month, along with other river content and the "adventure episodes" (hiking/mining/rockhounding). We're pretty new around here- just getting starting!
WELL, I ENJOY YOUR SHOW, STRAIGHT FORWARD AND TO THE FACT.....NICE VIDEOGROGHY AS WELL.....DAN@@mojo.adventures
Great video thank you
All states need to start recycling all their water and pump it back into aquifers. Santa Ana in Orange county does and so does Israel. Also preventing so much rain runoff to go to the oceans we need to start capturing all that rain and directing it to water treatment plants.
Great job ❤
Wonderful breakdown of the current situation! Keep up the great work!
Thank you! We appreciate the support 👍
😮 I remember walking through some neighborhood at night and because of the grass in those neighborhoods you would literally need a jacket to walk through at night. Those neighborhoods are all gone nowadays.😢😢
Nature provides water through snow and storms. But, also high heat days can evaporate the levels to new lows. Just because water levels go up, does that mean that new towns can be built? Maybe not. Nature gives, but takes away too.
It's not the fees that will work, but invalidating and replacing the Colorado River Compact, it should be null and void that will refill the lakes. Imposing a maximum usage per household size would greatly reduce usage, and regulating which crops can be grown.
Good luck with that...those first rights holders will never give up their water rights, and every lawsuit ever brought to disband the compact has been thrown out of court...EVERY SINGLE ONE. On this issue, those first rights holders are even more powerful the any state governor or the POTUS. Ever notice how no governor or POTUS has ever been able to do anything about the compact?
Great video. Very informative. Appreciate it.
We need more supply and better agriculture policies throughout the west. ...Especially California.
need fucking fewer people in the whole region.
How about instead of the millions of acre feet of water that gets sent to the ocean in flood situations, states focus on collecting an storing that water. Certainly Lake Mead and Lake Powell would benefit from water diverted their direction.
You nailed it! The Sites Reservoir project has long been talked about and held back, it should have been in place this year... a completely missed opportunity. Thank you for watching!
Diversions have been talked about for decades by hydrologists & engineers. Politically, they've been blocked by special interests, which have created the lack of political will, which is why we've never seen a project realized.
Another excellent compilation of news for we in the Lower Basin. Thank you for a thorough update! Here in the Phoenix area, my wife & I took a ride on my Softail to check out the new developments, as we were concerned about these wealthy developers who likely have Water Commissions and pol's in their pockets. While there continues to be growth (read "sprawl") throughout the far reaches of both East and West Valley, we noticed that NO real lawns are allowed in front yards of these new HOAs. Instead, much more imitation turf has been installed-- a step in the right direction down here! Fingers crossed for a bountiful Winter 2023! 🤞🤞
Outstanding! Thanks for the report from Phoenix😎 Just got rid of a Softail over here myself, going back to a Sportster soon hopefully as we don't do 2-up much anymore. I was surprised to hear Phoenix actually approved the building moratorium for wells and decided to regulate the farms. I don't think we'll see anything like that in Vegas. The big money casinos (MGM & Caesers) and the developers are still building furiously the last 5 years. Long time residents aren't very motivated to make changes seeing all this growth continue. It will be interesting to see what changes come out of the action taken there!
@@mojo.adventures - Building is still continuing out here for sure but, YES, each developer must be able to provide a "100-Year Sustainable Water Supply" Certificate, or the hammer comes down on your build! So they're definitely getting serious out here! And enjoy that Sportster, brother! There are plenty of barely-ridden used ones out there to realize some serious $$ savings!
@@mojo.adventures Well again, it what I sated in another comment. It's not simply about "big money", or developers in someone's pocket. Las Vegas is growing, the casino industry is growing. Read my previous post, and the policies then become obvious. Thanx.
I like this guy.
Lol this amazes me , in the netherlands they are encouriging people to use more green instead of contrete to avoid water to vaporize before it reaches canals etc
Sorry about those high water bills but here in Great Lakes region we have plenty of water and cost of living is reasonble. Its incredible to see people move to a desert and then complain about lack of water.
Dude, you don't have water issues because you're not the S.W. that produced the country's soft Ag. Over 80% of the Colorado River's water is used in Ag irrigation, Ag that feeds you. Why did you assume it was the people in the desert using the water? Who told you that? Btw: Do you know why there aren't tomato fields or lettuce fields around the Great Lakes in January...it's too damn cold. That's why you have plenty of water.
@@Bouncer-id1rh So your water problems are caused by lettuce and tomatoes? Wow. Btw: The Great Lakes region has plenty of water because it's not a desert. Simple.
You barely grow crops around the Great Lakes. 8 months of the year you import food from the southwest. The biggest use of water in the southwest is agriculture. Go ahead and eat canned vegetables and fruit all winter and let me know how that works for you.
@@rtengstrom9620 And the desert has plenty of water too. As I stated, over 80% of the water is used in irrigation. In addition, starting next month, over 90% of N. America fruits & veggies produced from Oct-Apr are produced in the growing districts of the Colorado. Did you know that? Here's another one. Calif is the nation's #1 "soft" Ag producer, Florida #2, Texas #3. But, Calif Production in hectares is over 40x that of #2 Florida, so yes...WOW! When you come to sites like this, are you actually trying to learn something, learn the dynamic taking place, or think you're hip being snarky. I mean, good grief man.
@@othgmark1 Or, go back to previous generations and can your fruits & veggies during the summer, and store them in canning/fruit cellars the way it was done in the not to distant past. It's amazing how people have zero clue of the recent past, and what technology has done to change things.
I have seen were California is no longer in a drought. And it is not drawing water nearly the same as was the same as last year.
Yes, because the 500 plan reduces deliveries this water year by 500,000af in the lower basin. It's for 2 years. The Ag industry is being paid 264.00af to not use that water.
Hi guys, great informative report as usual. 😃
Thanks Dawn! Appreciate you checking out another update👍
Last I heard Flaming Gorge was nearly full. They can send some downstream>
As a 37 year (lifelong) AZ resident, it is a joke. We cut water supplies and shut down local farms, all the while building at an astronomical level. The entire phoenix valley is growing in every direction. Some communities are being built without even having a supply of water but they build anyways. Giant warehouses are popping up EVERYWHERE! Apartment complexes are popping up EVERYWHERE! New neighborhoods are popping up EVERYWHERE! Its almost as if we have an unlimited supply. Its a good thing so many people are moving here to fill all these office spaces, apartments and homes, all the while local residents are being priced out of being able to afford a home at all.
Exact same scenario in Las Vegas! I understand the math behind what the SNWA is trying to do, but it is just so that they don't have to halt growth or check these mega-corp tract builders. It gets really frustrating as a long time resident to keep getting more restrictions and fees when you've already done your part, only to see billion dollar "luxury" high rises with 3 pools and mansions with artificial fountains and ponds going up all over town. Hard to take them serious, it seems more like they want to replace everyone with a much wealthier property tax base and squeeze the historic communities dry.
@@mojo.adventures thats certainly how it seems.
We need 2 more great snowpacks in the Rockies in a row! That would get both Powell and Mead above 70%. We also need the area at large to get their usual rain amounts too. Getting them both to 100% would take more luck than Mother Nature is likely to provide. But if we can get an average year then a big one, it could be possible over time.
Good observations! I agree, we need a few more hearty snow packs to really make a recovery. We seem to be waiting on a sort of miracle usually and only take real action when it's long past due. It's good to see some actions being taken with this opportunity let's hope we're even more prepared if it comes again this winter!
It will never be over. There will always be severe drought, severe flood and everything in between. Droughts have lasted up to 200 years. There is no stopping the climate from doing what it does. The only thing you can do is build infrastructure to deal with it. Maybe going so far as to limit populations in certain areas.
@@glidercoach sadly in the long term you may be right.
@@mojo.adventures the biggest obstacle to recovery in the short term is how much water Cali gets. NV not SCREAMING at everyone that we are pretty much THE gold standard of water conservation states is laughable. Cali needs 2-3 good sized desal plants and even in MOST down years Lake Mead wouldn't suffer much.
@@BIGJATPSU Sadly? It's the way it is. Nature... Natural. Be grateful for life and learn to live what it throws at you. We have is so much better than 100 or 200 years ago. The same weather happened centuries ago and man survived.
I still think the Fed’s need to turn the valve off for California, or at least turn it to a trickle. As it isn’t right for California to get more water than everyone else.
The drop technik should use for the plant.
The tiered water pricing seems to be reasonable to me.
Cool video. Nice footage. I wonder how much water is lost to evaporation. Quite a bit I bet.
Good question! I'm not sure there have been any consistent studies or measurements on evaporation. Something I'll have to look into further! Thanks for watching👍
In California, they have been demolishing dams that were part of the hydraulic infrastructure. The Los Angeles river (now all concrete) just flows into the ocean instead of flowing into cisterns. It doesn't take much to dig holes in the ground creating artificial reservoirs to capture rain water and aquerduct water. A whole series of them can be built instead of gigantic dammed structures. Just dig gigantic holes and line them with concrete. The inflow can be the same as the outflow, and cess will flow to the next cistern. Much of this water infrastructure is already built, just add to it, taking advantage of it. Tokyo has done this. Other cities have done this. You don't need large and complex dams and reservoirs to buffer excess rain water to save for drought conditions. Every point on the aqueduct that pumps water over hills, just pump it from a cistern before the hill. Excavating a round or rectangular cistern 50-100 feet deep by 300 x 300 yards is a no brainer, compared to a dam project. The LA river can also flow through large cisterns underground. Most of that infrastructure is also there. Just expand it. With all of the ridiculous demand for electricity and people moving to desert regions, dams like Hoover won't be able to supply drinking water and power for much longer. The blue states are going to have to suck it up and go nuclear and allow the dams to only supply drinking and farming water. If California built more nuclear plants instead of tearing down perfectly good ones, they could desalinate water and have plenty of power for EVs. No, California waited and waited, ignored warnings, and just pretended it wasn't a crisis. Now they have rolling blackouts, EVs that can't charge, and water rationing. They knew 30 years ago this would happen. Frankly, I say just completely cut them off from water and power from out of state and let them fix themselves. Arizona and Nevada actually have some very intelligents means of capturing water through cisterns and flood ponds. California doesn't.
There are no rolling blackouts or water rationing in the big cities where I live or where my family lives in California.
It’s Cali they never give a crap except putting money in their pokets
@@lillysf1819 Your point being?
Lake Powell & Mead are upstream of CA, so there's that
@@dlorien7306that's the colorado. OP is talking about Cali's own in state water supply mismanagement.
Pennsylvania checking in. You can have all that El Nino snow and rain there in the Southwest. I love not having to snow-blow my driveway even once during the winter.
I'm sure the Southwest would gladly trade its abundant solar power for snowpack if we could figure out the logistics.
Great update. I notice a reoccurring theme regarding water in the southwest. The only solutions ever presented are water conservation and increased fees. Never is gathering more water from the numerous mountain peaks snow melt ever considered. California has the sierras which gathered record snow levels this year and most of the water makes its way to the ocean.
Great point! I didn't consider that until you mentioned it now, but that has been the theme of most of these updates. They are directly correlated in Las Vegas also. Increase fees to force more conservation. I've told other viewers I don't think there will be any significant changes or negotiations until 2026. We are kind of in a holding pattern until then, hoping for more strong winters. Not a very great plan! Thank you for watching and commenting 👍
It's been considered for decades by hydrologists & engineers. They have come up with plans, but the reality, every plan has been shot down by the environmental lobby. Now, I'm not pro or against that lobby, I'm just stating why there hasn't been any projects to bring water where it's needed.
@@mojo.adventures Mojo, just to clarify, the SNWA's policies are not about "saving" water. Las Vegas doesn't have water issues. The policies are so S. Nevada can continue to grow, all the while, staying under the water allocation. It's how Las Vegas will get to 4 million people in the next decade or two, yet stay under that allocation. A way to think about it is... when you remove your grass, what that REALLY does is allow for another house to be built down the street. Every single policy is to reduce per capita water usage to allow for growth and NOT have water issues. Very few people is Las Vegas understand this.
@@Bouncer-id1rh I realize that concept now! Clark County will not stop sprawling for a long time to come. Near the end where I show the new 4 Seasons going up in Henderson I mentioned current residents are conserving more paying more etc to subsidize future residents/growth. I actually have to give credit to you for bringing that up, so thank you!👍Back in a previous update you commented and mentioned that we aren't really "conserving" and I now have to agree... we are just letting water managers allocate it to new users.
@@mojo.adventures Sometimes I get frustrated and even can come off snarky because I'm stunned even people in S. Nevada don't understand this. If so, I apologize. This has been the plan for over 30 years between the planning commission and former SNWA chief Pat Mulroy. Both the P.C & Mulroy understood the life blood of the city was growth, but recognized at current per capita usage(30 years ago), the city would hit it's allocation within a decade, without much hope of adding any water resources. If you recall, Mulroy was a crazy person, trying to secure additional water resources. I'm sure you remember the controversy about that. Not to sound arrogant, but I understand the dynamic better than virtually any person not associated with the SNWA or BOR. I"ve been directly involved with the issue for over 25 years as a broker to the Ag industry. I've been to more BOR meeting, more symposiums than a human should be forced to. I'd do a video, but am clueless as to how. You're a master a the video, I have incredible amounts of knowledge about the dynamic...so Um.
Las Vegas has been really doing well with water conservation as despite being summer lake meat is continuing to refill slowly inching up every single day. I hope this keeps up.
Very informative video. Now we need law makers to act with concern about something besides their own greed for financial gains through property development and start showing concern about the growing population and the fact that we are STILL in a twenty year drought. The current laws were established about one hundred years ago when there was no recorded history of the rivers cycles of drought and flood. We are on the verge of an all out crisis and the time to act is NOW. Not three or five years from now. We need to educate people and enforce new strict rules and fees. We have the intelligence to get past this situation but we need the desire to do that. The politicians and lawyers need to look beyond the potential cash cow and do the right thing for humanity.
Need to build up natural wetlands with excess water. I think that will go a long way towards heading off drought
I'm from Michigan, I follow both you you and Vegas Dtech to keep up on what's happening out there. I admit I don't understand a lot of what your talking about but I learn more all the time. I find it all very interesting. My question, how do they "Bank" water. I mean I get it, but where do they put it? Thank you for all the time you put into making these videos. If wasn't for people like you, we wouldn't really know what's happening with Lake Mead and such, it's not really talked about in Michigan.
Welcome aboard from Michigan! Thank you for watching and I appreciate that feedback👍 We enjoy Vegas DTech's updates also, he often digs up things I overlooked and vice versa so it's good to have other local creators on the issue! As far as the "banking" the water goes, Southern Nevada has numerous wells and aquifers spread out between communities, commercial users, and municipal water districts. Sometimes large commercial users (like golf courses/casinos) will have a well or retention pond for their own use. For residential users, the water district has it's own wells to serve the community during high demand periods. They are everywhere but nearly invisible above ground. Most people never recognize them. Here's a good article I'll leave a link to that explains it more: "There are almost 200 underground wells in Southern Nevada, each costing around $2.5 million to build. Schuth says some wells are barely noticeable to most people, while others are topped with large pumps that also need to be checked monthly." -KTNV13 www.ktnv.com/news/groundwater-aquifers-under-las-vegas-offer-small-but-crucial-resource-during-drought-crisis
Please link elevations to percent of capacity. The correlation between elevation and storage is not linear, think of a margarita glass.
That is correct, the canyon is a deep "V" shape! Under the elevation number I overlay the percentage and updated increase/decrease. It is a bit small, so I may have to make it more prominent in the future. Thank you for watching and the suggestion!👍
Saudi Arabia is cutting oil production again. The Colorado system being abused, by countries like Saudi Arabia needs to be firmly addressed.
Got it. We are in September and the water increase is from last winters snow lol
Lifting the water restrictions was a bad idea. Too many people take for granted when it comes to good things such as water a life giving resource. That area needs more rain to fill the lakes to its capacity. Politicians have no clue when it comes to decision making regarding natural resources. They just look for the next opportunity for themselves. Let's just hope for a heavy winter snow fall that will pack the mountains and other areas to fill the Lake Mead up to 25 percent above capacity.
We need to recognize what is an average family. Water Conservation is a must. For example, the person who had the lawn and pool cannot be considered a regular homeowner. This is what happens when you try to confuse the issue.
There is no city or area better in the world than Las Vegas at water conservation and recovery.
I still don't understand why we don't keep the water restrictions in place. It seems like we all survived
You have to look at the numbers and realize there's a huge difference in "million gallons" vs "million acre feet". When these volumes are clear you'll realize that residential conservation means very little compared to industrial agricultural usage.
Very well done video! Excellent narration, volume levels and audio clarity. Nice video shots and editing. No cheesy graphics, sensationalist headlines, or annoying music. This feels professional, you should be proud of your work! I'm now a subscriber. About the topic, I've been following the water situation for the last year. It's concerning to wonder where some regions of the country are headed. Although the politicians may fight over the cause and even the facts, living in this situation must make it undeniable that some things about climate are changing. I wish the powers that be, that we appointed, could spend less time arguing and more time working on solutions to the issues the country faces. What about us investing in a mass desalinization project to provide future water for the region? That being said, in an effort of full disclosure, I do live in the great lakes region and although we aren't facing water shortages, I still care about and want the better for my fellow country men and women. I hope you all get a lot of snow and the situation improves!
Well said and thank you for your concern even though you are not personally affected.
Welcome aboard, thanks for watching and leaving a comment!👍 We try and improve a little with each video so it's good to hear you enjoyed it. Well said about working on solutions instead of wasting so much energy just arguing at the starting line. It seems many sides of this issue make it an "all or nothing" solution on whatever angle they are behind. I think the situation is way too complex and needs to be attacked on different fronts in different areas. Desalination would be a huge step in supplying the heaviest river users here in the southwest, but it is largely just written off as "not feasible" where it's needed the most. Never any funding or drive to update our own critical infrastructure. It will be interesting to see how the recent drought relief payments will affect this issue. Appreciate your concern from across the country also! I hope our "good" extremes aren't felt too much in the opposite direction over there😎
@@mojo.adventuresagree with the excellent and unbias reporting. This is a complex problem and there are tons of interesting moving parts that most high level and even major journalist efforts miss or can't spend the resources to investigate and explain. It has to be frustrating for all involved, it is difficult to point fingers, and it is people continuing to try to work together despite all this that will make this fascinating to learn about for decades to come. A lot of people are cheering for incremental and meaningful solutions, many maybe we haven't even thought of yet. Cheers from a hydrogeologist.
@@andr0373 Appreciate the feedback!👍 It's great to hear from someone with professional experience on the issue, I am a layman in every sense of the word when it comes to this. Just an explorer of the Mojave desert at heart. Once you learn one small piece of the reclamation puzzle, 10 more moving parts are revealed behind it though. For all the faults people hold the USBR to (including myself) sometimes I wonder how they could ever get things RIGHT between all these factors. You nailed it also... the real incremental and meaningful solutions I don't think have even been presented yet. Too busy fighting over who and what is to blame instead of each State working on their own major issues. I hope we at least get closer before 2026 when this issue goes back on the hot plate!
@@mojo.adventures Every major scientific and social endeavor either started with lay persons or was aided by them. Don't sell yourself short. Our most valuable resources are the people on the ground collecting the data, making observations of things we haven't thought of, and keeping a pulse on the people with real long term decision making power and the people those decisions affect. There is plenty of water if people can figure out an equitable way to use it. We know the distribution of it in the past hasn't done a good job understanding the long term effects and division of the resources, that doesn't mean apocalypse, it means we have to work through ways of updating what we know and how we manage things. We'll get there and observations and reporting like this are critical. Keep at it, it does not go unnoticed or underappreciated.
Which is very unfortunate as most of the reservoirs in California increased dramatically in the last year.
So climate change is a hoax, thank you for confirming that fact.
California is releasing 30% of their water from reservoirs into the ocean. They keep reservoirs at a minimum and then are the biggest draw from the Colorado river.....
they have had reservoirs on the drawing board for DECADES. blame dems
CA also has to maintain constant positive outflow on its rivers, because otherwise seawater starts infiltrating and salting incredibly productive farmland.
We live on a water planet and we can't figure this out we're so doomed
A big, damaging storm arrives two days before its forecast? But we can accurately predict the weather five years from now?
August was very dry in southern Colorado, last week was the first rainstorm in what felt lile forever
Looks like it's a widespread pattern, we just got through that. Hopefully you dodged any bad fires there, seems to be the theme lately. Back to flooding here!
@@mojo.adventures i dont live near any fire prone areas, but thank you anyway
Absolutely love your reports. Southern Las Vegas seems to have the model to follow. What if the banked/unused water resources were protected and were not able to be used by less caring users and instead added to the level of Lake Meade in an effort to reach full pool?
Welcome back again thanks for checking out the update!👍 That would be ideal, wouldn't it? From what I understand, when the SNWA says they "bank the excess" they are actually filling underground aquifers here in Nevada for future use. Everyone should leave the excess in Lake Mead as it was designed for that, so we have a solid idea of how much water is actually available and being used. As I mentioned it's not going to happen if all the users aren't on board together.
@@mojo.adventures Why are my comments blocked?
@@mojo.adventures I don't understand? Why shouldn't Nevada store their allocation they don't use in aquifer's? It's pumped down to the bottom of the aquifer, then naturally cleaned as it percolates up words. Remember, the water in the reservoir is not owned by Nevada, and it's allocation is so minimal, will it really makes a difference if it was stored in the reservoir?
@@glidercoach we see you just fine on this end 👍🤷
@@Bouncer-id1rh Nevada should definitely bank the extra👍 Especially considering where it would be used/wasted if not. I included "if Nevada returned all it's excess to the river, it would probably just be wasted by less conscious users downstream" I'm sure you understand. I think Las Vegas should actually have a more aquifer's especially as they grow.
I was wondering is there any underground water or Aquifers in any Western States. Here in Ohio we have a ton of underground springs. If they have underground spring water in any northern west states this could help the Colorado River
Hi there from the Buckeye State! Outside of Lake Mead, we have water storage here in Las Vegas in underground aquifers (artificial). We do have natural underground aquifers that some strip casino properties still draw from but these historic wells are all but depleted and unreliable. As I described in the video, SNWA (Southern Nevada Water Authority) banks whatever extra water allocation that isn't used in the aquifers. There are plenty of natural aquifers throughout the west, but in the areas that need them most like the central valley and Imperial Irrigation District (CA) there aren't enough or they are depleted. These areas really need extra storage capacity whether it's smaller regional dams or more artificial aquifers. At a certain point it's not the amount of water they need, it's they can't contain enough and flush it to sea instead of saving it like Las Vegas. Thank you for watching!
Michigan here. Lol good luck out there with your water hahahahahaaaa
It doesn't matter how much they charge if overall there is not enough water. It's just normal government greed. In California they talk about digging more reservoirs but never do. This last winter is a perfect example why they should
Curious.... another KZheadr had video of lake rise. Then just after I write the foregoing sentence this video states that Lake Mead rose to over 1065 ft.... regardless of where the water came from that is more than a few tenths of an inch. Bottomline the water from the monsoons and Tropical Storm Hilary did have a positive effect. While Mead is below 2021 levels Powell is above and both are above 2022 levels.
You nailed it! Lake Mead is up a pretty remarkable amount since the lows of August 2022. Around a 25 ft increase now! That's in a years time though. In the video, I was only referencing the week of "Tropical Storm Hilary". In that week long period, you can see from the official readings it was only tenths of an inch. The point was to show how even heavy local storms don't affect the reservoir levels much, it's almost all winter snowpack. I hope that explains it a bit better 👍
What about the Almond Farms mainly in California? they are the biggest consumer of water
California should have the right to use their water for what they want but they shouldn't be taking so much from the Colorado.
That is a factor too from what I'm seeing. What I constantly hear mentioned is almonds, alfalfa, and cotton. Those seem to be the worst (least drought tolerant) crops to continue growing here in the southwest.
They will pump that right out to the ocean. Water shortage creates power and money
The building and expansion is simply going to continue… bad news is there’s just not enough water to supply it all. Just wait until Colorado has an exceptionally low snow pack year and then you’ll see the reality of just how bad it is.
It's a commodity that we all share an not endless an it's definitely not just for the rich or commercial exploitation
What anyone thinks is irrelevant to the growth of cities in a desert where everything depends on a finite and non renewable source of water. Simply, groundwater cannot replace itself at the rate it is being used up. Cuts are not the long term answer!
With the 8 plus inches of rain that fell on the Mount Charleston area. Where did that run off go?
From what I understand, most of it stays on the far western side of the valley within the range and flows down around Red Rock. That runoff is separate from the city runoff and doesn't enter the Las Vegas Wash which is mainly on the east side by Lake Mead. An interesting side note however... I found some footage that apparently shows flood runoff last storm coming all the way down Lee Canyon Road and entering a Las Vegas flood channel. That water theoretically could make it all the way Mead if it makes it into the wash channel.
Looks like mother nature is still waiting for you guys to clean up the mjunk on the exposed lake bed
If you want to save water, you could stop or slow hydro power and replace it with nuclear. Operational reactors are generation II, new designs are Gen IV and are far more safe and efficient, breeder rectors can even reuse exhausted fuel rods and the 90% of remaining Uranium and waste elements in them. Search Gen IV reactors. and SMR.
Now we're talking! I am fascinated by the fusion technology being advanced right now. Maybe we can skip the traditional reactors and take a leap into the future? I see nuclear being even more helpful powering desalination plants along the shore for these thirsty cities in the west.
USBR? I hope this organization is aboveboard. Ashamed we have to monitor water 💦 so closely 😢
Its almost like the dam was placed there because the water flow wasn't always consistent..... 🤔
I have read that much of the snow melt and rain water runoff west of the mountain range runs to the ocean and not able to be claimed. Any thoughts on this.
If you are talking about the Eastern Sierra's in CA then yes that is correct, that mountain range including the massive Whitney Peak are the reason Death Valley exists. All the moisture gets dropped on the western slopes as it rises. They do a good job collecting that water, but not storing and distributing it properly. Often times water managers in CA will have to "dump" water to the ocean from their reservoirs to make more room for incoming rain/snow. Then come summer they are low again.
The SW needs to rethink its agriculture strategy moving fwd since they use 70%+ of the water. Less water intensive crops and better use of targeted irrigation will go a long way.
Don't you think they've heard this? They obviously have a different perspective.
My throughts r the new city that they what to develop should be on a hold. The more we build the more problems with resources. What happens if the drought happens again in 2years.
Forecast - no ed "forecasted" needed. Is it correct to say forecasted? So, Which One is It? Both forecast and forecasted are the correct past tense common form of forecast. But forecast is more widely accepted by dictionaries, linguists, and online spellcheckers.
The mayor is not in charge of the states water lol😂
We need to stop rationing, and start developing new sources of water, from the Missouri or elsewhere via aqueducts, or desalination technology to offset California demand. No more government solutions, we need market solutions to encourage conservation, but more importantly create much more supply.
I agree. The goal should not be suffering and sacrifice but rather abundance and prosperity.
I used to Live in California and I witnessed "Water 💧💦 Waste". The Governor has Never Ever improved "Water 💧💦 Infastrution ( Water Retention Wells etc, etc). 90percent of the Rainfall goes right Out to the"Ocean 🌊. I say No More Water 💦 to California until they Make a More effort to Conserve the Water 💦 that they are allocated. Sincerely Yours 🤠 Mr Severance, "The Cake 😋 🍰🎂 🥳🎉 🎊 Man".
100% correct. plans for reservoirs for DECADES. tell @jedthezed3599 and @xostler
Where can I find out about this coyote Springs city project?
Local news is just starting to cover it again, there isn't all that much info unfortunately. It seems to have flown under the radar until the low water levels became an issue. It looks like the group attempting to buy water rights for Coyote Springs is owned/affiliated with a national homebuilder here in Vegas. They are bringing a lawsuit against the NV State Engineer over aquifer designations to get the rights to water. This is turning into quite an interesting story... here is a recent article I am going to reference you can learn more from: Proposed plan for new Nevada city heads to Supreme Court: www.kolotv.com/2023/08/08/proposed-plan-new-nevada-city-heads-supreme-court/
Is coyote springs back in development? Seems it was quagmired years ago (2018).
That would explain the lack of news around it for several years! I thought so also. Apparently the homebuilder and their water resource company were formulating a lawsuit against the NV State Engineer to acquire the water rights. So it's not back in development yet but they are actively trying to secure the water right now.
Please do not count on the farmers almanac to predict your weather for the winter. They’ve been saying that Indiana was supposed to have a blizzard for the past few years 😂
Haha gotcha, well don't give up on it just yet! After seeing this winter maybe they were just "ahead of their time" with the Indiana blizzard prediction 🤣
Interesting. My calendar says it's still summer 2023. Just sayin'.
Hi again from New Zealand, I note the report on vegetation in cities and how the reduced vegetation such as trees could impact on the environment. Earlier this year there was a report from Australia about tree lined streets being so much cooler to live in and along with that less respiratory issues for the residents. The report stated that the temperature was around 15 degrees cooler in these tree lined streets which also meant that HVAC units were not required to be used to cool houses down, also there were fewer hospitalisations due to heat exhaustion. Road surface temperatures were around 20-25 degrees cooler, this also resulted in the roads requiring less maintenance. . Here in New Zealand we are looking at a warmer and dryer summer as we say good riddance to El Nino - which caused billions of dollars of damage. Great video - keep it up.
In US we have dumb ignorant politicians that are brain damaged like Fetterman and Biden. A simple concept of planting trees is beyond their comprehension.
Excellent info, welcome back thank you for watching and commenting!👍 The "heat island" thing you describe is fascinating to me. It could be a HUGE factor here due to the unrelenting desert heat. It's ironic because the city has been paying out to remove trees and grass to conserve water for years, but just last month they reversed and had a tree planting ceremony because they found out having no vegetation was making it worse! I'm not sure anyone really knows what they're doing at this point. I am glad to hear you're getting rid of El Nino and the worry of storm damage though! We are really glad it's here instead 😎
That really isn't a potent storm, at all. It is just wash out from a desert area getting more water than normal.
this isn't the whole story, if you look at the amount of water they are releasing. Nobody is asking if there are people who are opposed to lake mead that are in charge of the flows.
The only issue I have with the excess water usage fees is they are assessed monthly based on an amount that is seasonally adjusted. So if you use 20,000 gallons in a winter month it costs you way more than 20,000 in the summer. And the only reason for that is the average usage across all households is much higher in summer than winter. But we have a humongous reservoir our water comes from so it really doesn't matter when in the year water is used. SNWA should instead assess water overage annually, or at the very least rebate overages at the end of the year against the next year's bill. This has the advantage that someone with excessive usage is incentivized to reduce water usage for the rest of the year. Another thing they could do would be to use some or all of the excess fees to reward households using less than the average. This will incentivize even low water users to conserve more so you get twice the effect in the same policy.
i do own PHO also WTR
Thanks for watching and dropping a comment! Got some good points there👍 I like your suggestion of "rewarding" low use households, I think that would indeed motivate the average user much more than "punishment" which people are already pushing back against.
Saudi Arabia needs to grow their own alfalfa.
Increase the fees to brutal levels. Lower the fees tier 1 which is all you need for a comfortable home. Ramp up here tier 2 cost. Then tier 3 10x then tier 4 20x. They need to see $10,000 water bills on a monthly basis and that will really soften them up and make their meat nice and tender.
You could increase the fees to $1 million per gallon on residential users, even reducing total residential use to zero, and it's only going to have a very limited effect, because the vast majority of water is used by agriculture, often on very thirsty types of crops that are more suitable elsewhere.
@@dansanger5340 good point! That’ll be tough to deal with. Another issue is the more people that live in the more water they need for themselves and for the food they need to eat. Still though some near me still use water wastefully I guess the cost is bearable for them. Lol.
Think you need to check the temps in July 1936 I think you may find them hotter as the USA and Canada lost thousands to the heat wave two weeks with heat over 11o average in the USA much hotter in Nevada
Interestingly, Santa Barbara once record a temp of 133 degrees in 1859.
@@Bouncer-id1rh Almost certainly an unreliable reading. It is not recognized by the National Weather Service.
@@dansanger5340 Sure, it's not recognized anymore because all historical high temperature records have been stricken from the record books, and are now recognized as noted. This is why we keep breaking high temp records, because almost every record pre 25 years ago is now only noted and not an official record. Because of this, a temperature recorded in Death Valley in July 1998 became the "officially" recognized hottest air temp ever recorded at 129 degrees. That has since been broken at 130 degrees. Having said all that, getting back to Santa Barbara, meteorologists believe the temp in Santa Barbara was likely in the high 120's to low 130's that day, but they have no way to verify it. Hell, maybe with today's technology, that day would of recorded at 134 degrees...we'll never no. But we do know that in 1859, Santa Barbara had a day that was hot as F*ck.
If California would have to abide by some water restrictions they could keep more water in the lake……. Personally, I think it should be illegal to have grass in the desert that would save a fair amount of water not watering the grass.
Large Pool Tax 🏊🏼♂
12:37 isn't it a bit early to be lifting the drought restrictions?
i moved to SoCal 40 years ago when i switched from working for the Army to the Navy. since then i have seen housing increase in my local area by at least 2-300 percent. every year we are told to save water and yet they continue to build and build more housing in this desert area. i do not conserve water and i never will until i see new housing projects stop. the scam is telling people to save water while city councils continue to zone new housing construction. i've never been so glad to be old. SoCal is going to suck 50 years from now. there is no plan to throttle population increase because that is what our economy is based on... there always being more people. luckily it's not going to be my problem...i'll be dead and buried.
Thank you for your service and for the comment 👍 Same scenario happening in Las Vegas, it's frustrating to watch the logic behind this. Our city leaders embrace the flood of people while telling current residents they are the problem and need to be restricted more. Infrastructure here is falling behind at every turn. Not enough roads or public transit. More stadiums and luxury high rises go up. What I've found is that city leaders don't want to stop their cash cow which is new construction filled with wealthy out-of-state people with higher income. It replaces the long time middle and lower class residents with a higher tax base. New wealthy people gladly pay higher property taxes and excess water use fees. City leaders take home more money and provide less infrastructure like they are already doing now. It's a cash grab.
Residents are just going to have to accept ne fees by reducing water use, by waterless toilets, smaller lawns, native plants in landscaping
You gotta pay to play!
Having your own swimming pool in Nevada always sounded insane