Lake Mead....

6/7/2026 7:47pm
sumdood wrote:

Wow. Check out this graphic yikes

Lake Mead Water Level

The vertical axis doesn't start at 0, which makes it misleading, it's only down 1.6% in 2 years... 

The vertical axis doesn't start at 0, which makes it misleading, it's only down 1.6% in 2 years...

image 3145

 

dkurtd wrote:
If full pool is 1229 and dead pool is 895 then it holds 334 ft of usable water.  A 17.34 ft drop of 334 ft is...

If full pool is 1229 and dead pool is 895 then it holds 334 ft of usable water.  A 17.34 ft drop of 334 ft is more like 5.19%.  Of course that is elevation, not acre feet of water.  Acre feet is how most lakes are measured.

Most reservoirs outside the US are measured by volume.

4
dkurtd
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6/7/2026 8:29pm
The vertical axis doesn't start at 0, which makes it misleading, it's only down 1.6% in 2 years... 

The vertical axis doesn't start at 0, which makes it misleading, it's only down 1.6% in 2 years...

image 3145

 

dkurtd wrote:
If full pool is 1229 and dead pool is 895 then it holds 334 ft of usable water.  A 17.34 ft drop of 334 ft is...

If full pool is 1229 and dead pool is 895 then it holds 334 ft of usable water.  A 17.34 ft drop of 334 ft is more like 5.19%.  Of course that is elevation, not acre feet of water.  Acre feet is how most lakes are measured.

Most reservoirs outside the US are measured by volume.

We measure them in volume as well; we use the acre foot/feet measurement.  One acre foot is 272.23ft x 160ft x 1 ft deep.  I believe at full pool Lake Mead is 28.23-million-acre feet of water and currently is somewhere around 8-million-acre-feet.

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soggy
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6/8/2026 7:50am
dkurtd wrote:
If full pool is 1229 and dead pool is 895 then it holds 334 ft of usable water.  A 17.34 ft drop of 334 ft is...

If full pool is 1229 and dead pool is 895 then it holds 334 ft of usable water.  A 17.34 ft drop of 334 ft is more like 5.19%.  Of course that is elevation, not acre feet of water.  Acre feet is how most lakes are measured.

Most reservoirs outside the US are measured by volume.

dkurtd wrote:
We measure them in volume as well; we use the acre foot/feet measurement.  One acre foot is 272.23ft x 160ft x 1 ft deep.  I believe...

We measure them in volume as well; we use the acre foot/feet measurement.  One acre foot is 272.23ft x 160ft x 1 ft deep.  I believe at full pool Lake Mead is 28.23-million-acre feet of water and currently is somewhere around 8-million-acre-feet.

Measure it however you want it ain’t good. 

2
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APLMAN99
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Fantasy
6/8/2026 11:15am
The vertical axis doesn't start at 0, which makes it misleading, it's only down 1.6% in 2 years... 

The vertical axis doesn't start at 0, which makes it misleading, it's only down 1.6% in 2 years...

image 3145

 

dkurtd wrote:
If full pool is 1229 and dead pool is 895 then it holds 334 ft of usable water.  A 17.34 ft drop of 334 ft is...

If full pool is 1229 and dead pool is 895 then it holds 334 ft of usable water.  A 17.34 ft drop of 334 ft is more like 5.19%.  Of course that is elevation, not acre feet of water.  Acre feet is how most lakes are measured.

Most reservoirs outside the US are measured by volume.

They are 'officially' measured in volume, but for folks who live on the edge of the water or if you have water uptake pipes that you rely on, the feet above sea level reading is what is easiest to understand for most people.  A lot of lakes and reservoirs have measuring sticks that people put up, either out in the lake or on their docks, that show how high or low above 'target' the level is.  I'm pretty sure that most of the ones in Lake Mead that were there a decade ago are all dry and a long way from water now.  

4

The Shop

bodycast
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6/8/2026 5:07pm

Can't over populate a desert and not think this wont get complicated later down the road.

Leadership failure.

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Falcon
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6/16/2026 3:09pm

I've read that the problem is in the measurement and projections for the future. When Hoover Dam was built, the Colorado river flow measurements had been taken during an unprecedented wet phase. They planned for much more water than was ever likely to continue. The current "drought" they say we're in is more like a return to the normal amount of water entering the river and thus the lake. Couple that with more and more water use, and bang! There's your low reservoir. 

Let's hope the coming "Super El Nino" dumps a ton of rain and snow for the next couple years; we may get some of that pool back. 

https://www.newsweek.com/super-el-nino-could-impact-colorado-river-lake-powell-lake-mead-water-crisis-11966013 

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RichieW13
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Thousand Oaks, CA US
6/17/2026 2:47pm
Dudley wrote:
The Colorado river basin is well below snowpack this year. Going to be a long summer for folks in the west I’m afraid. They’re draining 30%...

The Colorado river basin is well below snowpack this year. Going to be a long summer for folks in the west I’m afraid. They’re draining 30% of flaming gorge to rescue lake Powell. 

First year I can remember mountain biking essentially every weekend above 7000 feet. They were climbing 14ers in hiking boots with minimal spikes in early May.  
 

This summer will be fine.


It's next summer that could get dicey if the Rockies don't get a good snowfall.

RichieW13
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6/17/2026 3:06pm Edited Date/Time 6/17/2026 3:07pm
Falcon wrote:
I've read that the problem is in the measurement and projections for the future. When Hoover Dam was built, the Colorado river flow measurements had been...

I've read that the problem is in the measurement and projections for the future. When Hoover Dam was built, the Colorado river flow measurements had been taken during an unprecedented wet phase. They planned for much more water than was ever likely to continue. The current "drought" they say we're in is more like a return to the normal amount of water entering the river and thus the lake. Couple that with more and more water use, and bang! There's your low reservoir. 

Let's hope the coming "Super El Nino" dumps a ton of rain and snow for the next couple years; we may get some of that pool back. 

https://www.newsweek.com/super-el-nino-could-impact-colorado-river-lake-powell-lake-mead-water-crisis-11966013 

Yes, the Colorado River compact allocated 16.5maf of water to the states. 

Since 1970, the Colorado River has only averaged receiving about 13.8maf per year.  On the bright side, they've only averaged using about 13.5maf per year.  That sounds like we should be fine, but it turns out in those years in the mid 80s when Mead and Powell were full (or close to it), they had to send a ton of water into the Gulf of California, because there was nowhere else to keep it.  Over the decades, something like 70maf of water (enough to fill Mead and Powell) from the Colorado river went into the Gulf of California. 

Another bright spot is that over the last 25 years, the states have been trending downwards in their use of Colorado river water.

Here's an interesting deep dive: https://wayneswords.net/threads/colorado-river-natural-flow-vs-total-wa…

Dudley
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Denver, CO US
6/17/2026 6:01pm
Dudley wrote:
The Colorado river basin is well below snowpack this year. Going to be a long summer for folks in the west I’m afraid. They’re draining 30%...

The Colorado river basin is well below snowpack this year. Going to be a long summer for folks in the west I’m afraid. They’re draining 30% of flaming gorge to rescue lake Powell. 

First year I can remember mountain biking essentially every weekend above 7000 feet. They were climbing 14ers in hiking boots with minimal spikes in early May.  
 

RichieW13 wrote:

This summer will be fine.


It's next summer that could get dicey if the Rockies don't get a good snowfall.

I hope so, my biggest worry at the moment is forest fires. 

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