The Official Drought Thread

[Omaha 680]

I'm still a relative noob at Powell. Being I started going in 2021 I have never used the cut. We will be down there this week for two days starting tomorrow. Water data shows the lake elevation today at 3582.71, which is about 3 inches below the NPS minimum safe elevation. It is 2.71' above the "absolute minimum" reported on the water data sites.

For those experts here, what is the elevation below which you won't attempt to use the cut? Houseboat trip didn't work out this year so we will just be in a 26' bow rider.

[Omaha 680]

Lake Powell up over 25 feet and still rising. Looks like we will slightly exceed the high water elevation from last year. I was wondering if it would only be on the order of a 10 foot bump when the final snowpack was known. It was above average but nowhere near the previous year. It helps Powell this year that GC dam releases during runoff have been about 1/2 what they were during the 2023 runoff.

Capture.JPG

[BigFatMeanie]

Utah is around 110-120% in every basin in the state. We are doing better than all of our surrounding states for some reason.

My prayers must be working.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Nowhere near last year's pace, but significant improvement over the last 6 weeks:

Capture.JPG

This current batch of storms should put us well over the 10-year average and potentially above 2019 pace, which was a good year.

Utah is around 110-120% in every basin in the state. We are doing better than all of our surrounding states for some reason.

[Bo Diddley]

Nowhere near last year's pace, but significant improvement over the last 6 weeks:

This current batch of storms should put us well over the 10-year average and potentially above 2019 pace, which was a good year.

Yeah, I'm very happy with where we stand this year. Wouldn't it be great to find out years down the road that this is the new norm? Yeah, not likely, but it's good to have the ball bounce our way a couple years in a row.

[Omaha 680]

Nowhere near last year's pace, but significant improvement over the last 6 weeks:

Capture.JPG

This current batch of storms should put us well over the 10-year average and potentially above 2019 pace, which was a good year.

[Northwestcoug]

Here’s a fairly alarming article about the status of the nation’s groundwater levels:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...e=articleShare

[Omaha 680]

Thanks for all the tips. First time staying out on the lake was a blast and already planning for next year. I slummed it because I'm a civil engineer not a welder and the boat only had a 50 gallon toy tank. That worked for our group though because we only had two jetskis and a small powerboat. The skis were used way more than the boat. Stayed in Last Chance and it was gorgeous. Full moon, high 90s for the highs and 82 degree water temp. Even got a big thunderstorm one afternoon but were protected in a cove so we got to see all the spontaneous waterfalls but didn't get pushed around by the wind too much. My kids lived in the water and passed out on the trip back to the marina they were so tired. Now I need to get rich so I can go all the time.

[frank ryan]

Yeah, I remember learning at a young age about the Cradle of Civilization between the Eurphrates and Tigris Rivers. Then when I found myself there, I just couldn't picture how it could have been. Climate change is not new.

For sure, and it also is genuinely global warming. The coin who shifted the use of language away from "global warming" has regrets about it. Frank Lutz has been very important to conservatism.

https://grist.org/article/the-gops-m...limate-action/

I think we are past the tipping point with it. It's such a loaded subject to bring up it just gets avoided

[Bo Diddley]

Now I know how WWIII will start:


and,



https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/29/w...ification.html

Yeah, I remember learning at a young age about the Cradle of Civilization between the Eurphrates and Tigris Rivers. Then when I found myself there, I just couldn't picture how it could have been. Climate change is not new.

[Northwestcoug]

Now I know how WWIII will start:

Indeed, for much of its history, the Fertile Crescent — often defined as including swaths of modern-day Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Iran, the West Bank and Gaza — did not lack for water, inspiring centuries of artists and writers who depicted the region as a lush ancient land. Spring floods were common, and rice, one of the most water-intensive crops in the world, was grown for more than 2,000 years.

But now nearly 40 percent of Iraq, an area roughly the size of Florida, has been overtaken by blowing desert sands that claim tens of thousands of acres of arable land every year.

and,

Many modern nations have gone on the offensive to ensure that their people have enough water. Ethiopia has spent years building a colossal dam on the Nile, inciting fear and anger from Egypt downstream. China has done the same with the Mekong. Central Asian nations have had a long-running feud over the Amu Darya and Syr Darya Rivers, which have been drained to such an extent that by the time they reach the inland Aral Sea, there is little water left.

Worldwide, countries share nearly 900 rivers, lakes and aquifers, according to the United Nations, and though a treaty exists to govern their use, fewer than half of all countries have ratified it. Notably absent from the list are upstream nations like Turkey, Iran and China.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/29/w...ification.html

[fusnik]

We are staying for a few days on the lake for the first time. The last couple years since we started going down we have just done day trips on the lake. My question is: where TF do I get gas when I'm in the middle of the lake since Dangling Rope was decommissioned? I don't know for sure but I'm thinking we will anchor the houseboat somewhere up in Last Chance. We rented a smaller boat to cruise around during the days. Are we stuck going all the way back to Antelope Point when we need more fuel? I'm very new at this.

Like Shaka said the houseboat should have a toy tank with hopefully 200 gallons of fuel, that’s enough for one boat and the houseboat.

[Shaka]

It really just depends on what kind of toys you bring. Multiple boats? Jet skis? Does the houseboat have a (decent size) toy tank? The houseboat I'm usually is a rental a couple of my friends bought and fixed up. They have been slacking off on installing a toy tank so we bring a lot of those five-gallon VIP gas cans. We also bought six of these:

https://www.wurxcontainers.com/shop/...providencepeak

The twenty-gallon gas cans aren't fun to move when they are full but they stack and free up a lot of space on the back of the houseboat. We have a couple of Wurx pumps that we use for the twenty-gallon cans and the five-gallon cans. In total, we bring about two hundred gallons of extra fuel with us (three boats) but we usually send one boat back to Antelope to fill up. This works out because usually, we have to make a run back there to pick up someone or get ice.

Last Chance looked great when I drove past.

[Omaha 680]

I have no idea what to think. They are saying there's a lot of snow that has yet to melt and come down. I do know the upstream reservoirs are now full and releasing like crazy. I was there last week and it was a very enjoyable trip.

We are staying for a few days on the lake for the first time. The last couple years since we started going down we have just done day trips on the lake. My question is: where TF do I get gas when I'm in the middle of the lake since Dangling Rope was decommissioned? I don't know for sure but I'm thinking we will anchor the houseboat somewhere up in Last Chance. We rented a smaller boat to cruise around during the days. Are we stuck going all the way back to Antelope Point when we need more fuel? I'm very new at this.

[Pelado]

I have no idea what to think. They are saying there's a lot of snow that has yet to melt and come down. I do know the upstream reservoirs are now full and releasing like crazy. I was there last week and it was a very enjoyable trip.

Good.