Lake Powell is in the same situation, as well as the Colorado river. The three primary sources of fresh water for the western US are all at record lows.
I seen that some water ways that flow to the Mississippi are starting to dry up as well and seen that supposedly the Mississippi is having issue in general.
First we get an expendable crew to fly to a comet traveling millions of miles an hour through space to get a huge chunk of ice and fly back and drop it in the lake/rivers
Sure glad we are focused on climate change which will "doom" the earth in 50-100 years and not water rescouces which will dome the West in 5-10 years. /s/
A couple months ago there were several news stories about bodies being found now that the lake is drying up. Some assumed mob murders from that era of Las Vegas as well. Pretty interesting!
I believe this is the lake where some kid on Tiktok posted a video of the torso of a dead women he found. It was gross to begin with but when he proceeded to stick his hand into the body to pull out plants I was out.
Rice is the most water hungry crop. It has to grow in a shallow lake. And in the valley it is done in a hot desert on a grand scale. 3500L or 18 bathtubs of water per kg. Insane.
At least half life came with an exciting alien invasion. All we get is dehydration. And sometimes some as-yet unidentified lights in the sky. With our luck the lights are aliens, except they're cold blooded and are waiting for us to continue creating more deserts and to wipe ourselves out so they can colonize after and steal our jobs.
What you should know is that these are showing two different extremes. In 1983 the Colorado river, lake Powell, and lake Mead hit an all time high. (The Glenn Canyon Dam (lake Powell) almost broke too). However, 2021 and now are both at all time lows
Dangerously so. Too the point the dams were at risk of not being able to absorb storm water. They then did a few years of high flow downstream to ensure surge capacity existed.
A warmer atmosphere can hold more water. It doesn't have to rain, it can just stay in the air floating around as a cloud or humidity. When it does rain it can be elsewhere on earth and way too much. Like how Pakistan was flooded with 6 feet of rainfall this summer.
100% agree, but I think golf courses account for less than 1% of the water usage. Municiple usage in general is less than 10%. Agriculture, depending on the state, is upwards of 80%.
Both, it’s a reservoir that holds the extra water. Once it’s empty, they only have whatever flows down the mountain that day. At that point, they will no longer be able to use more. It’s like when ur bank account is empty but you still have a job.
I visited from NZ a few months back. I monitor irrigation and power schemes back home. It was really fascinating to me to see and learn about the scheme and the low lake level. Very interesting! We also got to see a turbine being fixed as well. Love this kinda stuff.
Water levels are seriously low, no way around it. That said, showing it in 1983 is a little disingenuous. The 1982/1983 winter thaw was an outlier to say the least. It was way above average snowfall being melted very rapidly by way above average rainfall.
Californian here with several friends in the culinary arts… they’re definitely developing desserts out West. Not sure what that has to do with drought and desertification though.
Who would've thought that millions of people living in a fucking desert and not upgrading the infrastructure for the increased population for 40 years would horribly backfire...
Lake Mead hasn’t been that high really ever. There was a flood in 1983, which is what this picture is from, but the only other time was in 1941 to test the overflow spillway. The current levels are unacceptably low, but this is comparing a literal flooded reservoir to today’s conditions.
And once again, people will miss the point that 75% of the water in Lake Mead goes to irrigation for agriculture - this is caused by farmers trying to grow crops in areas they aren’t suited for instead of capitalising on things that can survive in those environments. The agricultural industry needs to adapt their produce instead of fallowing fields and playing the victim as their solution to this.
I'm from San Diego, and we were rationing water in the '70's when I was a kid.....this current dire reality, of course, was anticipated, but solutions or serious dialog was never more important than promoting growth. I left decades ago- it was far too crowded to get around efficiently (both South CA and SF Bay Area) and the future looked anything but promising in regards to livability or home ownership.
We've gone the other way here, dams were empty from a long drought and now they're overflowing and there has been flooding all over the place this year
It's weird that boomers have completely destroyed the planet in the lifetimes of gen x/millenials. Like, you can see old documentaries from the 60s and 70s of flourishing landscapes across the world that are just barren wastes now.
I don't care, all we do is pout on the internet and nobody does anything irl about it. If we die so be it, we don't deserve to exist if we let this happen in the first place.
I visited in 1997 and the levels were similar to the photo on the left so it’s even more startling because this decrease happened in a very short time.
How many 2 million+ population cities in deserts are surrounded by lush greenery and freshwater lakes? How big were settlements around natural desert oases? A limited resource like an out-of-state river cannot serve millions of humans living in the desert. Whoever thought the current populations of the downstate users is sustainable needs a new job.
Are these two pictures really evidence of something? I ask because I was on lake Mead around 1985, and as I remember it, the water level near the dam was about half-way between the two levels shown in these pics.
The reason of the very low water level is on the one hand due to climate change. But also, and mainly, because they build entire housing communities in a dry sunny climate. The same goes for their farming.
I've been here for both. In 83 you could run along the spillway, on the Arizona side, and by the time you made it to the other side you would be completely soaked from all the mist coming up. Then we'd see who could count the most fish flying over the top. Good times.
I don't know why people continue to move to a region with a water shortage problem. There is going to be a great loss of wealth through worthless property. I hope I'm wrong and missing something though.
I remember crossing Hoover Dam for the first time in my life in 1989. We moved from Phoenix to Las Vegas that summer. The water level was quite similar to the 1983 pic. Two years ago, my family drove through Las Vegas on a summer trip and it took a tremendous amount of emotional effort NOT to start crying in front of my kids. It's heartbreaking. The first time I crossed that road over the dam, I was almost 10 years old and it was magical! Now... it's devastating seeing the bleached "bathtub ring" from above.
Just wanna say, as a Nevadan, we do a pretty good job of conservation here. It's all the other states with water rights fucking it up. Looking at you Utah
Frightening. In addition to the frequent and natural draught conditions California and other states that share this water are encouraging more people to move to the very areas that are using this water faster than nature can return it to the system.
I can't speak for other places but in las vegas, residential water does not affect the water level. They recycle 100% of the water used indoors. The outdoor water usage is heavily regulated but could probably be even stricter. Even places like the resort/casinos are not a detriment to the water used.
I see your point but it’s not housing that’s causing the drain at this level - 75% of the water goes to irrigation for agriculture. Residential isn’t the issue.
One thing about this picture to keep in mind is that 1983 and 84 were historically high water years. I’m 1984 the Glen Canyon Dam nearly collapsed because it wasn’t able to push all the water through that was melting in the Rockies. I’m not dismissing the dramatic decrease in water, I’m just pointing out you’re actually seeing the two biggest extremes in one picture.
Deserts flood on occasion; this water isn't meant to supply massive urban areas in a desert for decades - the population and water use has to come down for Lake Mead to be sustainable.
As practical engineering said, a reservoir being low isn't necessarily a bad thing, as it would be designed to do that. But like people who never let their phone go below 75% charge, it is just wasted capacity.
This will probably only get exponentially worse as time goes on. Widescale desalination and water distribution network upgrades on the West Coast of the US is the only way to guarantee water security for the region.
Lake Powell is in the same situation, as well as the Colorado river. The three primary sources of fresh water for the western US are all at record lows.
Restore Glen Canyon
Is there any solution about this problem?
I seen that some water ways that flow to the Mississippi are starting to dry up as well and seen that supposedly the Mississippi is having issue in general.
First we get an expendable crew to fly to a comet traveling millions of miles an hour through space to get a huge chunk of ice and fly back and drop it in the lake/rivers
Sure glad we are focused on climate change which will "doom" the earth in 50-100 years and not water rescouces which will dome the West in 5-10 years. /s/
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Oh they knew it was a bad idea, had to bend over backwards to convince buyers otherwise but the folks getting the sweet Saudi cash don’t give a faq
They did and didn’t.
Don't forget almonds
And a bunch of stupid shit like new housing developments and golf courses. In a literal sandbox
They do it in New South Wales as well and it’s destroyed on of Australia’s main rivers. It’s CRIMINAL
But for a brief period of time, investors multiplied their wealth.
Almonds. Don't forget all the almonds California decided to grow too.
Fun fact, that’s one of the 2 times it’s ever overflowed
Fun opinion, they probably chose that picture for shock value
Yeah, I was going to say, 1983 was a big flood year in the Intermountain west.
And last one it happened as well.
A couple months ago there were several news stories about bodies being found now that the lake is drying up. Some assumed mob murders from that era of Las Vegas as well. Pretty interesting!
Sixth set of human remains found in vanishing Lake Mead
The ghost of Jimmy Hoffa enters the chat
Can confirm. Live here, like 4 bodies were reported.
I believe this is the lake where some kid on Tiktok posted a video of the torso of a dead women he found. It was gross to begin with but when he proceeded to stick his hand into the body to pull out plants I was out.
Stop growing alfalfa in the desert (Arizona) and Almonds (California)
Cali also grows 99% of the nation's pistachios...which require about 20 gallons of water to produce one pound of raw nuts.
Sounds like Needles, CA / Bullhead, AZ area
Oh-ho, but money, good sir! Moooooney!
The worst is the dairy industry.
And the alfalfa is for…
Rice is the most water hungry crop. It has to grow in a shallow lake. And in the valley it is done in a hot desert on a grand scale. 3500L or 18 bathtubs of water per kg. Insane.
My bank account 2020 / 2022
My bank account on payday / day after payday
Wait it's 2021 again?
Yeah it is. Just finished listening to Kanye West's new album Donda. He seems like a good guy.
🔫 Always has been
🎉 🎈 🎊
Few more years and 21 will be the good old days.
STOP DRINKING ALL THE WATER DRINK JUICE INSTEAD 😡😤🤬
Sir we took your advice and now most of us have kidney stones…
Drink Brawndo, the thirst mutilator.
Drink Brawndo: It's got Electrolytes!
I want some grape drink, baby! It's purple.
fuckNestle
And no Gluten… save the Gluten for when we really need it
The second photo looks like half life 1
Lol I was like, "Dang... Black Mesa is falling on hard times."
At least half life came with an exciting alien invasion. All we get is dehydration. And sometimes some as-yet unidentified lights in the sky. With our luck the lights are aliens, except they're cold blooded and are waiting for us to continue creating more deserts and to wipe ourselves out so they can colonize after and steal our jobs.
What you should know is that these are showing two different extremes. In 1983 the Colorado river, lake Powell, and lake Mead hit an all time high. (The Glenn Canyon Dam (lake Powell) almost broke too). However, 2021 and now are both at all time lows
They had to add plywood to the top of Glen Canyon Dam to hold back the water so it wouldn't overtop the dam.
Dangerously so. Too the point the dams were at risk of not being able to absorb storm water. They then did a few years of high flow downstream to ensure surge capacity existed.
Yea, the water wars will be real before long
Fun fact.... this was the ONLY time on the history of Hoover Dam that the water level spilled over...
That seems relevant and also sounds like Op is cherry picking
Can someone explain to me why we having this event? Do water just turn into hydrogen and not return to H2O?
A warmer atmosphere can hold more water. It doesn't have to rain, it can just stay in the air floating around as a cloud or humidity. When it does rain it can be elsewhere on earth and way too much. Like how Pakistan was flooded with 6 feet of rainfall this summer.
It looks Like a Level in half Life. Or half Life looks Like this 😳
If I remember correctly there was some level in a desert with a dam, so maybe it was this one in fact.
We're almost to that post-apocalyptic dystopian America we're always seeing in movies!
Maybe we should stop letting Saudi Arabia take all of the Southwest's water?
Lake Mead looks more apocalyptic in real life than it does in Fallout: New Vegas
They need to stop putting golf courses in the middle of the desert lol.
100% agree, but I think golf courses account for less than 1% of the water usage. Municiple usage in general is less than 10%. Agriculture, depending on the state, is upwards of 80%.
Golf courses are a red herring. Agriculture uses around l 80% of the water supply in western states.
And cities, and farms, and swimming pools, and casinos
Sounds like someone didn't do their own research.
Nope stop eating cows.
Is it down because of rainfall or because the population drawing on it has skyrocketed in that time?
Both, it’s a reservoir that holds the extra water. Once it’s empty, they only have whatever flows down the mountain that day. At that point, they will no longer be able to use more. It’s like when ur bank account is empty but you still have a job.
This is going to sound like a really dumb question, but is it from lack of rainfall or for some other reason?
Agriculture. Too much farming going to grow crops getting shipped to the other side of the world.
Same for Mississippi
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It's ok. Without water, the heart will stop soon.
Lake Chad and the Aral Sea are in dire conditions too
For Aral it is style exact same reason: cotton fields upstream
I visited from NZ a few months back. I monitor irrigation and power schemes back home. It was really fascinating to me to see and learn about the scheme and the low lake level. Very interesting! We also got to see a turbine being fixed as well. Love this kinda stuff.
It's actually even lower. Took this picture last Sunday.
Water levels are seriously low, no way around it. That said, showing it in 1983 is a little disingenuous. The 1982/1983 winter thaw was an outlier to say the least. It was way above average snowfall being melted very rapidly by way above average rainfall.
Need more beavers out there to raise the water table
It’s almost like California,Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico keep trying to develop desserts
Californian here with several friends in the culinary arts… they’re definitely developing desserts out West. Not sure what that has to do with drought and desertification though.
Are they tasty desserts?
California isn’t the desert
The left image is at a record high, but imo point still stands.
This is your friendly reminder to prepare for the water wars.
Who would've thought that millions of people living in a fucking desert and not upgrading the infrastructure for the increased population for 40 years would horribly backfire...
So no battle between California men and Roman cosplayers at the Hoover Dam?
Isn't it a man made lake anyway?
Lake Mead hasn’t been that high really ever. There was a flood in 1983, which is what this picture is from, but the only other time was in 1941 to test the overflow spillway. The current levels are unacceptably low, but this is comparing a literal flooded reservoir to today’s conditions.
And once again, people will miss the point that 75% of the water in Lake Mead goes to irrigation for agriculture - this is caused by farmers trying to grow crops in areas they aren’t suited for instead of capitalising on things that can survive in those environments. The agricultural industry needs to adapt their produce instead of fallowing fields and playing the victim as their solution to this.
damthatsinteresting
oddlyterrifying
Due to incremental increases of global warming this is the result.
I'm from San Diego, and we were rationing water in the '70's when I was a kid.....this current dire reality, of course, was anticipated, but solutions or serious dialog was never more important than promoting growth. I left decades ago- it was far too crowded to get around efficiently (both South CA and SF Bay Area) and the future looked anything but promising in regards to livability or home ownership.
We've gone the other way here, dams were empty from a long drought and now they're overflowing and there has been flooding all over the place this year
Stop building in a desert
Bodies everywhere
I hope people realize how serious this is.
It's not a real lake, it's a man made reservoir.
They don't.
Has absolutely nothing to do with temperature.
damnthatsscary
https://www.google.com/amp/s/beta.ctvnews.ca/local/british-columbia/2022/11/8/1_6144201.amp.html
It's weird that boomers have completely destroyed the planet in the lifetimes of gen x/millenials. Like, you can see old documentaries from the 60s and 70s of flourishing landscapes across the world that are just barren wastes now.
wisechoices
Deforestation 100%. People think it's just logging. No. It's every little inch of new sidewalk, pavement, wider roads, and grass lawns.
Everyone saying this is manipulative are wrong.
Is there a Damnthatsterrifying page, that where this belongs
Dam (get it? 😉)
Nestle employees out here trying to blame this on a little rascals character.
I don't care, all we do is pout on the internet and nobody does anything irl about it. If we die so be it, we don't deserve to exist if we let this happen in the first place.
Wherever could all the water have gone? Maybe the water bottling plants know.
I think you’re grossly over estimating the bottled water industry.
Turns out building a metropolis in the desert was a bad idea.
Visit historic Lake Mead - make your grim discovery today!
Begun, the Water Wars have.
More like
I visited in 1997 and the levels were similar to the photo on the left so it’s even more startling because this decrease happened in a very short time.
I think California needs to look into reverse osmosis of that huge body of water next to their state.
How many 2 million+ population cities in deserts are surrounded by lush greenery and freshwater lakes? How big were settlements around natural desert oases? A limited resource like an out-of-state river cannot serve millions of humans living in the desert. Whoever thought the current populations of the downstate users is sustainable needs a new job.
Are these two pictures really evidence of something? I ask because I was on lake Mead around 1985, and as I remember it, the water level near the dam was about half-way between the two levels shown in these pics.
The reason of the very low water level is on the one hand due to climate change. But also, and mainly, because they build entire housing communities in a dry sunny climate. The same goes for their farming.
I'm surprised no one is blaming this on climate change and sticking it to the poor almonds instead /s
Oh my God! That's the lake in Half Life 1.
Water level at the same spot was even lower in 1903.
Dam, thats interesting
I've been here for both. In 83 you could run along the spillway, on the Arizona side, and by the time you made it to the other side you would be completely soaked from all the mist coming up. Then we'd see who could count the most fish flying over the top. Good times.
Isn’t this a dam? Isn’t it normal that a dam releases water to produce electricity when needed?
so far, 6 recovered bodies, 1 B-29 and 1 WWII LCVP
Waisting all that water building and maintaining citys in deserts and watering non native grasses. 👏Ya No shit!👏
I live thirty minutes from Lake Mead and it's honestly all dependent on the Colorado river and how much ice melt comes from there.
I was there in October. It's lower now.
A Ranger I know that worked there said they would need 200% increase in precipitation for ten years to refill the Lake.
I don't know why people continue to move to a region with a water shortage problem. There is going to be a great loss of wealth through worthless property. I hope I'm wrong and missing something though.
That's property of Nestle
I remember crossing Hoover Dam for the first time in my life in 1989. We moved from Phoenix to Las Vegas that summer. The water level was quite similar to the 1983 pic. Two years ago, my family drove through Las Vegas on a summer trip and it took a tremendous amount of emotional effort NOT to start crying in front of my kids. It's heartbreaking. The first time I crossed that road over the dam, I was almost 10 years old and it was magical! Now... it's devastating seeing the bleached "bathtub ring" from above.
Sometimes I see this pictures and I’m like. We fucked. Then I go back to living my life in Oregon where is rains 700 inches a year.
Local government have promised to get to the bottom of it
Everyone knows the truth- Californians are the biggest water drain on the Colorado river and are going to be the ruin of everyone upriver.
We are murdering our planet. It's dying
Everything will be fixed after courier delivered platinum chip
Just wanna say, as a Nevadan, we do a pretty good job of conservation here. It's all the other states with water rights fucking it up. Looking at you Utah
Well, but then there's Vegas which was the only place in all of the western states I've been to where they didn't have water-saving shower heads lol.
Manmade crisis
I don't think most people realize it's a man made lake
Most are lately
🎶Where has all the water gone? Long time passing? When will we ever learn? When will we ever learn?🎶
I could be wrong, but wasn't this pic taken after they released a whole lot of water from the dam ?
No, it’s much worse only a year later
Fallout new vegas
Wasn't the dessert in socal a gov subsidy? There were no oranges before the water was redirected. This definitely seems like hubris coming due.
It's so much worse.
Frightening. In addition to the frequent and natural draught conditions California and other states that share this water are encouraging more people to move to the very areas that are using this water faster than nature can return it to the system.
I can't speak for other places but in las vegas, residential water does not affect the water level. They recycle 100% of the water used indoors. The outdoor water usage is heavily regulated but could probably be even stricter. Even places like the resort/casinos are not a detriment to the water used.
I see your point but it’s not housing that’s causing the drain at this level - 75% of the water goes to irrigation for agriculture. Residential isn’t the issue.
damnthatsterrifying
You can’t simply take and take without ever putting back. We talk every day about actions having consequences.
I mean if I had a lake made of mead I’d be drinking it too
Those are the spillways, which aren't normally overflowing. I'm pretty sure 1983 is the only time it happened.
Me to the numbnut generation that didn't try to fix this, "Profligates like you belong on a cross"
MFW the post-apocalyptic water levels at Lake Mead are higher than the actual reality we live in.
The end is near. Party on Wayne. Party on Garth.
Vegas and Phoenix are both going to go dry
They should have just waited till it was lower to build the dam its probably a lot easier now
Drink Brawndo, it's got electrolytes.
One thing about this picture to keep in mind is that 1983 and 84 were historically high water years. I’m 1984 the Glen Canyon Dam nearly collapsed because it wasn’t able to push all the water through that was melting in the Rockies. I’m not dismissing the dramatic decrease in water, I’m just pointing out you’re actually seeing the two biggest extremes in one picture.
It almost looks like fallout new vegas now
That reminds me I have to water my trees..
Well if you use more then you produce then yeah you end up in a deficit
Well, that’s terrifying. For anyone still choosing to move to Las Vegas.
If they made water use fees proportional to the supply of water I feel like we wouldnt be growing Almonds and shit in the desert.
Deserts flood on occasion; this water isn't meant to supply massive urban areas in a desert for decades - the population and water use has to come down for Lake Mead to be sustainable.
Coca Cola's water
Now is 2022. In case you didn't know.
"now"
Go back before 1935 and there is no lake.
To be fair 1983 was the highest that lake mead had ever been.
Fake news by the lame stream media and Big Water!!
I think you meant it for
More like
As practical engineering said, a reservoir being low isn't necessarily a bad thing, as it would be designed to do that. But like people who never let their phone go below 75% charge, it is just wasted capacity.
Technically, this picture is taken from the Arizona side.
We have the opposite problem here in Victoria, Australia
Selling alfalfa farms in the American Southwest to Saudi Arabia was a bad idea? What? No. You’re kidding.
Well congratulations
Okay but I walked outside today and it was only 30⁰, so clearly there's nothing wrong
Atleast there's no Mirelurk Kings.
The picture in the left in peak levels after floods
interesting? damn that’s fucking terrifying
This will probably only get exponentially worse as time goes on. Widescale desalination and water distribution network upgrades on the West Coast of the US is the only way to guarantee water security for the region.
Damnthatsdepressing
“It’s just a natural cycle it will snap back to normal , don’t listen to the radical left”
Alfalfa & Cotton? It’s one of the largest food producing areas in the world…