What’s it like on lake powell lately?

E

easy does it

Member
Looked for pura vida for 5 years and then moved to St George to be a lake powell junkie, 2 short trips summer of 2020 and then a quad bypass. Moved to Oregon and Hawaii but still still need another fix. It seems to me there may be a huge upside here in terms of what we could see? Of course the facilities would be a big hassle and require major planning something I am not to good at but still I can’t seem to resist these voices in my head calling me back. Is October to late?
 
At this point no launch ramp is open. Dangling rope has not been open this year for fuel. Any launch/ retrieval is for houseboats or other vessels for repairs and by tractor/tractors.

The water level is at least 15 feet below the end of the lowest level useful ramp. Powell is being maintained slightly higher than Meadl because of needs for power generation.

The up stream lakes and resistors are at about 66%, but inflow to them is limited. They are being maintained to allow constant flow to Powell (which has risen some from its low, to facilitate power generation.

So forget launching currently at Powell. By Oct, that 15 feet may be available and launching available. The weather is beginning to cool off. There are often thunderstorms but we have enjoyed Powell in Oct. in the past. With the limited facilities--you probably would be limited to range because of fuel and water. Even if you were to carry extra fuel, and conserve water there will be some limitations. I suppose one could boil or use filters to allow the lake water to be potable. We have always used lake water for bathing, doing dishes, and cooking if boiling the food. That leaves only drinking and some re-constitutional use of water for dehydrated food. If. you are careful the 20 to 30 gallons could last a moth of 2 people.
 
Water level is at 3536. Bullfrogs Executive ramp is open and good to 3525. Stateline auxiliary ramp on the south end is also open to 3525. As for Dangling Rope the facility’s have been takin to Bullfrog for dismantling current water level doesn’t work for a marina in that spot. Take extra fuel with you. Can’t tell you how fast they’ll drain off 10’ of water. Just have to watch the water data base.

http://lakepowell.water-data.com/
 
Thank you and I’m sure with the CD22 there are many other places but for us the Lake Powell experience was like nothing we had even ever dreamed of and it is hard to give it up. I wonder for those who have been around for a while, will it come back or is it gone? I am starting to wish I had voted for Al Gore. Ha
 
The predictions I have read say Powell is a goner. The dam was built by during an era of dam-building frenzy, based on a very short window of rainfall data, and even that was a questionable analysis.
 
I too am glad that I had the opportunity boat on Lake Powell in my C-Dory in 2018 for two weeks and 10 days by canoe in 2007. I think it is likely that Lake Powell is effectively gone forever. There might be a year or two here now and then, but with long term effects of climate change beginning to hit home and even greater demand on the water in the SW, I think it's long term future is bleak.

I too wish you had voted for Al Gore.
 
From what I read on the Facebook group, it sounds like if you can get launched, there is still plenty of water to enjoy. But the only fuel facilities are going to be at the Page, Az end, and perhaps Bullfrog. No more Dangling Rope or anything in between. Another good place to follow is www.wayneswords.net. I haven't checked in there in a few weeks, but I'm sure there is conversation there about water levels. Colby
 
The lake is still 130 Miles long and 400 feet deep at the dam. It has gone up the last two days. With all the problems that the drought has caused it has always delivered the lower states water shares. So it is doing exactly what it was supposed to do. If they would force the lower states to take a reduction it would recover. The only reason it is still working is because the upper states don't use all of there shares. Personally I would like to see Lake Mead and Powell go low enough that they can't generate any electricity. It would be a fun experiment to watch how they deal with the rolling blackouts.
 
Wonder about what they are going to do about charging all those electric cars? Will it be like a lotto or do you get one charge a month.
 
flrockytop":3jkxx2m6 said:
Wonder about what they are going to do about charging all those electric cars? Will it be like a lotto or do you get one charge a month.
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Since they need to supply the houses and other buildings in the region with power for AC most of the year, I'm guessing that the load from charging the relatively small number of electric vehicles doesn't really register. If most of the cars in the region were electric, it might make a difference.
 
So, is there a lesson to be learned here? Man plans…God laughs, maybe? Every present has a price? Everyone Complains about the weather but shouldn’t do anything about it?
 
Fairbro":2eupxeuq said:
So, is there a lesson to be learned here? Man plans…God laughs, maybe? Every present has a price? Everyone Complains about the weather but shouldn’t do anything about it?
Click to expand...

In this case I think there is a lesson. The mentality at the time of the dam building craze was.. well.. a "craze". I think greed and gang mentality were at play. There were two major mistakes: (a) They overlooked the need for good data and analysis - they only used rainfall data going back a short time and overlooked larger trends. And (b) even the analysis they did on the rainfall data they had was wrong. It has since been reviewed and found to have significant errors.

Probably because people in charge were fixated on profit, eager to "just build" without careful planning, and short-sighted.
 
Again, I opine:

Man is the most insane species.
He worships an invisible God
and slaughters a visible Nature…
without realizing that this Nature
he slaughters is the invisible God
he worships.
—Hubert Reeves, 1932 - , Fr Canadian Astrophysicist
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Aye
 
Fairbro":bpvcoo7t said:
So, is there a lesson to be learned here? Man plans…God laughs, maybe? Every present has a price? Everyone Complains about the weather but shouldn’t do anything about it?
Click to expand...

"Civilization exists by geological consent, subject to change without notice.”
Will Durant
 
In this case I think there is a lesson. The mentality at the time of the dam building craze was.. well.. a "craze". I think greed and gang mentality were at play. There were two major mistakes: (a) They overlooked the need for good data and analysis - they only used rainfall data going back a short time and overlooked larger trends. And (b) even the analysis they did on the rainfall data they had was wrong. It has since been reviewed and found to have significant errors.

Probably because people in charge were fixated on profit, eager to "just build" without careful planning, and short-sighted.
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Wood Zeppelin, could you please elaborate on your statement? When was this "craze"? Who was behind the "Craze"? Who were "People in charge fixated on profit, just build, and short sighted."

How long a time was the "Rainfall data"? Only rainfall data? Why was the analysis wrong? Is that true today with the Gross Dam now under construction and others planned?

Thank you.
 
Wood Zeppelin":1nil5un8 said:
... In this case I think there is a lesson. The mentality at the time of the dam building craze was.. well.. a "craze". I think greed and gang mentality were at play. ...
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I think there was some imputes for great construction projects during the early '30s as part of the recovery from the Great Depression (the New Deal and all that). Rather than just hand out money to support people out of work, infrastructure projects were created to kill two birds with one stone, give lots of people jobs and get stuff built. I'm sure that this led to some corner cutting and looking the other way during the justification phases of these projects.
 
Hi Thataway,

I highly recommend checking out "Cadillac Desert", either in book form or the video documentary. Fascinating stuff that's right under our noses that most people don't know about. It's a four hour documentary, I watched it in three sittings... they talk about the era of dam building frenzy, etc, etc.

Cadillac Desert (YouTube)

Then there are chapters in the amazing book called "Emerald Mile" that talk more about Glen Canyon dam.

Here is an article about the fuzziness and inaccuracies of how they look at rainfall data:

https://coloradosun.com/2022/02/24/wate ... ke-powell/

The information about the original analysis having errors was told to me by my friend who lives near Lake Powell and works for a land use advocacy non-profit in the area. I haven't checked the source on that, but it's a friend I know is deeply involved in the region as her career. Similar to the article above, "going under the hood" has found significant inaccuracies.[/url]
 
Wood Zeppelin,
I highly recommend checking out "Cadillac Desert", either in book form or the video documentary. Fascinating stuff that's right under our noses that most people don't know about. It's a four hour documentary, I watched it in three sittings... they talk about the era of dam building frenzy, etc, etc.
Click to expand...
d

You answered none of my questions. I did review the film, which for the most part is excellent. I am very aware of the water issues in S. Calif. (N. Calif, and all of the Southwest.)

Could we go back to days before even the Spanish or Russians came to Calif? That was when S. Calif. began to change. I don't seen any fad, craze or building frenzy over the 100 year or so period when rivers were damed for various reasons. Glen Canyon Dam was put in place primarily for power generation. The damming of rivers still continues to this day.

If your point is that S. Calif. should have never been settled and developers should not have made profits, then I might agree with you. But the reality is Southern California went from 5,000 inhabitants when my great grandfather arrived in the 1860s as the Land Grants Attorney for Los Angeles to the population of about 29 million it is today.

Land speculators and persons who profit from land development are in business to make profits--greed, I don't know about that.

The article you cite only discusses the duration of 30 year cycles and dropping the relatively dry years of the prior cycles. Nothing to do with the construction of Glen Canyon or Boulder Dam. Rain is a minor factor in the hydrology of water flow in rivers in the American West. Snow pack is more a reliable measure.

Southern Calif. Arizona and Nevada will always be short of water--they are deserts. Yes, many exploited that land. Since the missionary period water has been in short supply and often mishandled.

I am not sure how any of this will impact the future of Lake Powell, Glen Canyon Dam or the Grand Canyon.
 
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