March '24 puddle report

[parfive]

That’s two months now . . . nada. Diddly-squat.


Meanwhile, Acapulco just learned the hard way that a tropical storm can zip to Cat 5 in twelve hours.

yaleclimateconnections.org/2023/10/nightmare-scenario-category-5-hurricane-otis-devastates-acapulco/

[parfive]

Another month at the puddles with no excitement.


But this is cute . . . Turns out, a small bunch of farms in SoCal’s Imperial Valley use about fifteen percent of all the water drawn from the lower Colorado River.
One extended family uses more water than the entire Las Vegas metropolitan area and almost all it is watering animal feed, not veggies for peeps.     


    The 20 Farming Families Who Use More Water From the Colorado River Than Some Western States
    projects.propublica.org/california-farmers-colorado-river/

    The Historic Claims That Put a Few California Farming Families First in Line for Colorado River Water
    www.propublica.org/article/california-farm-families-gained-control-colorado-river

[parfive]

Mead ends the year back where it was two years ago before the wrecks and the bodies started poppin’ up and Powell is thirty feet higher.



        2023 . . . Crispiest one yet.

[RickB]

Lake Mead is rising now but is set for a big drop in water levels in 2024.
"Projections contained in Reclamation's 24-month study show the lake will drop to 1,056.19 feet by the end of December 2024. By the end of December 2025, Lake Mead will drop to 1,044.33 feet. On July 27, 2022, Lake Mead dropped to its lowest level since it was filled: 1,041.71 feet above sea level."

www.newsweek.com/lake-mead-set-big-drop-water-levels-2024-1861464

[parfive]

Just a little storm surge at the Bucholz Army Airfield, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands, out there in the biggest puddle of all.

[parfive]

January ’24 - Mead up four and half feet, Powell down four.

Panama Canal traffic still down almost forty percent due to Gatún puddle
and Suez traffic down about thirty fifty* due to problems in big Red puddle.



*  www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-68159939

[parfive]

February ’24

Déjà view . . . Mead up four, Powell down almost three.


Meanwhile, off the west coast of Africa, the Atlantic hurricane nursery is sporting mid-July temps in February. . . . Hmmm?

[parfive]

You can have your fish cooked any way you want as long as it’s poached.

[parfive]

Mead dropped a foot in March, Powell three.

Both remain much improved from this time last year.
Mead’s sixty feet higher, Powell forty.

About average snowmelt predicted this spring so no huge refill,
but Powell should end up close to last year’s level by the end of June.




How Do You Paddle a Disappearing River?
Canoeing the Rio Grande near Big Bend National Park . . .

or

www.nytimes.com/2024/03/22/travel/texas-big-bend-rio-grande-boat.html

[titaniumkid]

Apr 1, 2024 2:44:34 GMT -5 parfive said:

Mead dropped a foot in March, Powell three.

Both remain much improved from this time last year.
Mead’s sixty feet higher, Powell forty.

About average snowmelt predicted this spring so no huge refill,
but Powell should end up close to last year’s level by the end of June.




How Do You Paddle a Disappearing River?
Canoeing the Rio Grande near Big Bend National Park . . .

or

www.nytimes.com/2024/03/22/travel/texas-big-bend-rio-grande-boat.html

Similar issues in eastern Aus. The articles are a bit old now. 

www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-03/the-mystery-of-the-murray-darlings-vanishing-flows/12612166

insidestory.org.au/how-come-the-darlings-dried-up/

Even when there was apparently water available, communities in the lower Darling had none, and rivers ran backwards at times because dodgy large-scale cotton farmers were extracting water and storing it. Corruption and mismanagement are universal.

[parfive]

Toilet bowl shits the bed.