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View Full Version : Lake Mead 1, Lake Powell 0



burtandnancy
11-28-2004, 09:46 AM
Well, it may only be temporary, but Friday Lake Mead was up about 4 feet, some say 5 to 6, but definately up. The coffer dam inside Lake Mead Marina that was about 4/5 feet out of water, was just at the surface. Caused the marinas some grief as the dock ramps had to be moved again. The water was really nice until Saturday when it was rougher than I can remember in over 30 years. They had gust of 56 MPH. Hope to hear from someone who observed the level at Lake Powell. That 90 hour dump down the Grand Canyon really moved some water around. Lets hope the next few winters are wet enough to bring our favorite lakes back to normal (or close to it). This was big new on Las Vegas TV...

Dusty Times
11-28-2004, 10:09 AM
Did you install some type of dipstick or block heaters for this cold weekend?

burtandnancy
11-28-2004, 10:30 AM
As a matter of fact, that was interesting. The dip sticks I purchased from NAPA auto (for BBCs) were at least a foot too short for marine use. Didn't think of that. So we ended up with a heat lamp for this week, but after x-mas I'll go to the electric blanket and time clock. I also put a thermometer in the engine bay just to read it once in a while for my own information...

572Daytona
11-28-2004, 10:43 AM
I use one of these in my engine compartment of my cruiser and it seems to do the trick. I don't have to drain the block, headers or any of the holding tanks in the winter:
Boatsafe heater (http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&langId=-1&catalogId=10001&productId=72980)

Mardonzi
11-28-2004, 01:21 PM
It dropped Powell about 3 feet. We were scrambling also to keep the marinas in the right place not to mention the parkies had a great time trying to locate and mark all the new underwater obstructions. The thing that chaps everyones a$$ up here about this is the whopping 10 days notice they gave everyone up here prior to blowing the tubes,,,

burtandnancy
11-28-2004, 02:27 PM
Mardonzi, don't you wonder about the timing of this serious dump? Powell needed that like a chapped ass. I wonder if the same people who decided on the dump talk to any of the agencies that are affected by the drought and the low water situation. Well, thats our tax dollars at work...

SHOTKALLIN
11-28-2004, 03:16 PM
Where does all the snow go if our lakes are so low? There are a lot of focking mountains out there. How much of that run off doesn't make it to Lake Powell? is any water just wasted?

Dusty Times
11-28-2004, 03:19 PM
Every year lately they say the snow was on the wrong side of the Rockies to make it down the Colorado River. :hammerhea

burtandnancy
11-28-2004, 03:33 PM
2004 was the 6th drought year. Got to hope for wet snow, lots of it and on the west side of the rockies. It took six years to get this bad, it won't come back in just one. Remember, Lake Mead is now approximately 1130 feet, it was down to 1088 in the winter of 66/67. Back then Powell was still filling. In '83 it was 1228 and going over the spillways. The lesson here is: don't mess with mother nature...

SHOTKALLIN
11-28-2004, 03:38 PM
Every year lately they say the snow was on the wrong side of the Rockies to make it down the Colorado River. :hammerhea
so where does that water go? maybe they need to build an aqueduct somewhere because I guarantee you half that water is pouring into the gulf of mexico for no reason. probably.

Keith E. Sayre
11-28-2004, 09:19 PM
One good snow year in 1983 filled up Powell, Mead, Mohave and Havasu to
the point of overflowing. That was the year that Parker got flooded out so
bad. There was no way to contain the water. I remember everyone was
predicting that it would take 25 years to refill Lake Powell, but it was all done in about 4 months! It'll happen again-maybe this year.
Keith Sayre
Conquest Boats

Sleek-Jet
11-28-2004, 09:25 PM
Where does all the snow go if our lakes are so low? There are a lot of focking mountains out there. How much of that run off doesn't make it to Lake Powell? is any water just wasted?
Pretty much everything from Central Utah to Central New Mexico that falls on the Western Slope flows into the Green, Colorado, and San Juan Rivers. They in turn, dump into Powell. The snow pack 2 years ago in the San Juan mountains was literally non existant, something like 20% of normal, last year was a little closer, but not nearly enough. If the moisture keeps up this year like it has, we have a pretty good chance of making a dent in lake levels.
However, the real moisture comes in the spring (March, April, and the first part of May) historically. The 1983 floods were triggered by several large spring storms that dumped a massive amount of heavy wet snow in the mountains, then turned to rain storms around the middle of May.
We can only hope for that kind of year.

DaveA
11-28-2004, 10:09 PM
I use one of these in my engine compartment of my cruiser and it seems to do the trick. I don't have to drain the block, headers or any of the holding tanks in the winter:
Boatsafe heater (http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&langId=-1&catalogId=10001&productId=72980)
Went to Beech Mtn for a long ski weekend. Got down to -11F while there. Got down to +6F at the lake. Got home. No water. No problem! Fired up the kerosene blowtorch heater in the pump house. Water in 15 min.
But, wait- there's more.
Water goes to a trickle. No pressure. Oh! The breaker's popped! No problem...hit the switch.
That's when the sudden, gut-wrenching realization hit. My engine heater is wired on the same circuit as the well pump. I had a big-time motor milkshake.... :burningm: :burningm:
Oh well, I really did want a crate motor in my boat. Really.

Rexone
11-29-2004, 12:23 AM
As a matter of fact, that was interesting. The dip sticks I purchased from NAPA auto (for BBCs) were at least a foot too short for marine use. Didn't think of that. So we ended up with a heat lamp for this week, but after x-mas I'll go to the electric blanket and time clock. I also put a thermometer in the engine bay just to read it once in a while for my own information...
Burt I'd be a little nervous about relying on a timeclock if you're away. One power outage even in daytime could = broke motors if it was cold long enough. I know that's unlikely in Lake Mead area but who knows. Those boat heaters look interesting.

Mardonzi
11-29-2004, 07:44 AM
Well, as of this mornings local news report, the BOR has stated that the "flush" accomplished what they had intended and that flows for the next few months will be reduced to make up for the released amounts. This remains to be seen (as you can tell, I don't have a lot of trust in these agencies). The thing that irks me the most about this event is the rumor that the decision to dump was committed to, then they as for public comment after the fact which is supposed to be incorporated into the Enviromental Assessment. Wouldn't is be a bit more honest just to come out and say, "my mind is made up and this is what we are going to do"? Most of us understand and know how to deal with this verbage (I get it from my wife all the time :hammer2: )
As far as your question Shotkallin,,, Last year, snowpack was considerably more than the year prior, but due to the 6 years of drought conditions, dry soils and lowered ground water levels sucked up most of the run off. This year should be a whole lot better due to a bunch of fall precip prior to the snow season. Let's keep our fingers crossed....

burtandnancy
11-29-2004, 09:04 AM
KIETH, I'm not questioning your memory, but I don't remember the water level coming back that quick. Wait a minute, I've got a chart...The chart shows about a 25 foot increase in mid '83, the level had been in the 1200' range for about 4 years before and 6 years after the big spill. As was pointed out above, if the soil is saturated more, and if we get a real winter, things will get better.
Regarding the bilge heater, I'm still researching (and Nancy is still looking for her electric blanket). I used a mechanical timer rather than an electronic one so it'll go back on if we get a power glitch. Got down to 30 this AM in Boulder City. Don't need too many days of that!

dirty old man
11-30-2004, 08:10 AM
Went to the marina saturday, had breakers coming over the courtesy dock. never saw it so rough. couldn't tell if the lake was up or not

STV_Keith
11-30-2004, 08:29 AM
Mead was beautiful on Friday. Calm, a little chillly, but not bad. Was out of Cauville from 11am to almost 4pm. I knew the rain/wind was coming and did my boating early. :)

beer hunter
11-30-2004, 08:34 AM
One good snow year in 1983 filled up Powell, Mead, Mohave and Havasu to
the point of overflowing. That was the year that Parker got flooded out so
bad. There was no way to contain the water. I remember everyone was
predicting that it would take 25 years to refill Lake Powell, but it was all done in about 4 months! It'll happen again-maybe this year.
Keith Sayre
Conquest Boats
I hope you're right Keith. I'm thinking about doing another Powell trip next season but with Castle Rock Pass closed because of the low water levels, the smaller boats in our group get really beat-up going though the old narrow river channel to get up lake :hammer2: