Lake Powell water levels dip to record lows, leaving tourists and businesses scrambling​​​​​​​

[riversedge]

Source: USA Today


1:06 pm Aug7 2921



PAGE, Ariz. — A thick, white band of newly exposed rock face stretches high above boaters’ heads at Lake Powell, creating a sharp contrast against the famous red desert terrain as their vessels weave through tight canyons that were once underwater.

It’s a stark reminder of how far the water level has fallen at the massive reservoir on the Utah-Arizona border. Just last year, it was more than 50 feet (15 meters) higher. Now, the level at the popular destination for houseboat vacations is at a historic low amid a climate change-fueled megadrought engulfing the U.S. West.

At Lake Powell, tents are tucked along shorelines that haven’t seen water for years. Bright-colored jet-skis fly across the water, passing kayakers, water-skiers and fishermen under a blistering desert sun. Closed boat ramps have forced some houseboats off the lake, leaving tourists and businesses scrambling. One ramp is so far above the water, people have to carry kayaks and stand-up paddleboards down a steep cliff face to reach the surface.

Houseboat-rental companies have had to cancel their bookings through August — one of their most popular months — after the National Park Service, which manages the lake, barred people from launching the vessels in mid-July.....................................

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/news/2021/08/07/water-levels-lake-powell-sink-record-lows-tourism-houseboat/5524401001/

[msongs]

1. need a strong el nino this winter and a bunch more winters nt

[PSPS]

3. I'm afraid those days are behind us now for the foreseeable future.

[GulfCoast66]

2. I'm really worried about our western citizens.

I’m in Florida. No lack of rain here. But we don’t get our water from rain. Not directly, anyway. But aquifers which are shrinking.

We have cities of millions depending on these lakes out west. What will happen when they dry up? I hope someone is working on this.

Remember the Pueblo people, from what I’ve read are not driven out by the Spanish. But hundreds of years earlier by a changing climate. We are living with hubris if we think it can’t happen again again. Now I have no doubt there are solutions. But they will be expensive. And republicans refuse to spend any money to insure a safe future. Like I said…hubris.

[cstanleytech]

6. Only thing they can do in the short term is cut down on their water usage which should

in my opinion include completely cutting off the companies bottling water to sell.
The long term solution though is going to have to be to invest in desalination plants as well as nuclear plants to power them as its honestly the only solution to the needs for power for the plants and for the region as a whole unless there is some major breakthrough in ways to generate alot of power.

[NickB79]

11. Long term solution is depopulation by the millions as refugees flee

We're not going to build enough desalination plants to replace even a fraction of the water needed. Desalination replaces municipal water supplies. It's completely unscaleable for the massive industrial or agricultural use volumes, which dwarf what cities use. And when those sectors collapse, as they are already starting to, the economic impact will be horrible, regionally and nationwide.

[czarjak]

4. But...

"Trump was right about raking the forest"! Swear to all the Gods, they're THAT stupid and can't be swayed otherwise.

[Warpy]

5. It's not just the loss of a tourist draw

it's that power generation is also being threatened. Farmers in AZ have been told to expect 25% less water this summer, possibly even less next year. Some are pumping groundwater, but that has its limits, too, and AZ is seeing serious subsidence in some areas, deep cracks appearing without warning.

I just hope climate change doesn't make this part of the country completely arid, only a strip along the coastline still habitable, but I can see it coming in a century or so.

[Worried2020]

7. Hell no, tourism should be the least of their concerns.

.

Water for irrigation and communities, as well as power for millions will be greatly reduced if the level gets much lower.

I believe I read somewhere that if the water level drops much more, there will not be enuf to even safely drive the turbines for hydro.

Brownouts, maybe even complete blackouts could occur, wreaking havoc on communities that are already besieged with wildfires.

"Go West Young Man" is no longer a good idea . . .

W

[Warpy]

10. I came out here from Boston

but had absolutely no interest in CA and only mild interest in the PNW. Mostly, I wanted to dry out after living in the humid east all my life. I'll be here until the end.

I did my research and chose a smaller city sitting on a decent aquifer. We've been in severe drought, but when they told us 20 years ago that the aquifer was being depleted, lawns disappeared practically overnight, and now they're saying the aquifer is starting to recover, drought and all. Even some of the stupid golf courses have gotten the message and have artificial turf fairways.

The places that are really going to be up shit creek (which is dry) are Phoenix and Las Vegas. Brownouts and blackouts on the Strip? They're coming.

[marie999]

8. Have we passed the tipping point? I think so.

The whole of humanity will not do enough to stop or even slow down climate change. We will not become extinct but our population must drop considerably. I don't think we will enter Mad Max territory worldwide, but we may lose the western part of this country and others to drought and this country and others to rising of the oceans. We have 13 great-grandchildren and the only thing we can do for them is to keep buying land in the mountains but low enough to farm and that land is getting expensive.

[Mysterian]

9. It's clear humans are not intelligent enough to protect the only known biosphere in the universe

I agree it will require severe environmental calamity before humans begin to mitigate the damage we have done.

[dalton99a]

12. Kick

[DownriverDem]

13. I Live in Michigan

Folks better not think they can drain our Great Lakes. Move here if you want plenty of water.