California's Current Snowpack Water Content vs Historical Levels [OC]Submitted by EngagingData t3_107nagf in dataisbeautiful
cincy-bearcat t1_j3ojcd0 wrote
So big question, between this and Utah’s snow pack, how much can this raise lakes Mead and Powell?
jayrocksd t1_j3oqq6p wrote
Upper Colorado headwaters are currently at 126% of normal snow water equivalent, but that won't really put a dent in Mead and Powell levels.
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/wcc/home/quicklinks/states/colorado
cincy-bearcat t1_j3ow7xt wrote
Nice link! I was trying to see how big of a hole we are in.
EngagingData OP t1_j3on3cg wrote
These two reservoirs are on the Colorado river so I don't think California's snow has any impact.
ItsCowboyHeyHey t1_j3pol4y wrote
Not at all. We need a good decade of above average snow pack in the Colorado Rockies to make any real difference.
EatsRats t1_j3qsaiy wrote
Likely quite minimal. We want to see cooler summers and continued wet, snow-heavy winters and good monsoon seasons for years to come. This is a nice start though!!
TimeZarg t1_j3w1mmx wrote
This, we'd need at least a couple years of less-scorching summers with rainy winters before a real dent could be made in the drought, it's hard to overstate how dry and depleted the state is, even after being clobbered by weeks of rain and snow we're still gonna have water problems.
EatsRats t1_j3w3g70 wrote
I’m hearing people say the drought will be over this year…like, no dude. Definitely not.
People have very short memories and don’t really understand what a drought is and how impactful it can be.
TimeZarg t1_j3w4648 wrote
On top of that, because of the drought we've been depleting groundwater at an even faster rate, and that takes much longer to replenish. So, during the next inevitable drought in the next 10 years or so we're not gonna have as much groundwater to fall back on.
We are, quite simply, using too much of a shrinking resource, and not enough is being done to deal with the problem. We needed to put the screws to the big agribusinesses years ago, that's where all the damned water's going.
PraetorianOfficial t1_j3slso9 wrote
Sierra snow won't help Lake Mead.
The sad thing is California uses the lion's share of the Colorado River, and their rainfall contributes essentially nothing to it. They consume all the rain falling on their own state, and most of what falls on Utah, Arizona, and Western Colorado.
PryomancerMTGA t1_j3q4unm wrote
I flew over lake Mead in May; it was really depressing. I wish I knew how to attach a picture. I hope that it recovers.
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