Water dump again????

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Dave I.

Dave I.

Escalante-Class Member
Just heard this from a customer and would like to know if it's true or not.

What he said was he was talking to a Park Ranger @ Bullfrog and the ranger told him that California is dumping their water to be able to have room for the scheduled dump from Lake Powell.

Makes me question it for one reason, because Lake Mead is first in line. But, does anyone know if there is a scheduled dump planned for the lake, or even worse, an "experiment"?
 
Considering that Lake Powell in this whole system of reservoirs is the lowest by percentage at 37% and Lake Mead is second at 41% it doesn't make any sense but I can see the dumping of Mohave & Havasu which are both over 90% to prepare for the run-off.

But do the "experts" plan to do a dump from Powell again? I hope he got his story wrong.
 
That's great news Tiff! Let 'er rise. But you know that once the rise starts to happen, someone mouth will get watering for more water release. Or worse, the pipeline to St. George will gain momentum. grrr
 
I doubt California is ‘dumping’ water. Although one could reach such a conclusion when in high precipitation years (like this) so much rain water is directed out to sea rather than captured in basins or reservoirs.

Regardless of snowpack or drought conditions, Lake Havasu never fluctuates more than a couple of feet (between 446 - 448’ elevation).

Lower Colorado River Operations | Lower Colorado Region | Bureau of Reclamation

www.usbr.gov www.usbr.gov

Parker Dam was built to create the reservoir known as Lake Havasu in order to provide reliable water delivery to Southern California and Central Arizona.

It must be maintained at this constant level to feed the pumping (lift) stations that supply the CA and AZ aqueducts.

Lake Mohave, the reservoir behind Davis Dam, fluctuates quite a bit more than Lake Havasu, but still seems relatively ‘stable’ compared to Lake Mead and Lake Powell. Over the past 8-10 years, Mohave elevation ranges about 15’...from a low of about 630’ to a high of nearly 645’.

Lower Colorado River Operations | Lower Colorado Region | Bureau of Reclamation

www.usbr.gov www.usbr.gov

So far in 2019 the elevations at both reservoirs appears ‘normal’ based on historical records.
 
Yep Northern CA is another animal altogether...Havasu and Mohave were mentioned previously which suggested So. Cal/AZ was dumping water...not so.

Central and Northern CA is fed by numerous mountain reservoirs (like Oroville) along the Sierra Nevada mountains. Because these lakes fluctuate so widely from early Spring to late Fall, many have a series of launch ramps at varying elevations.

After snowmelt the highest ramps are used, while the other ramps are submerged. As the summer progresses, lake levels drop significantly leaving higher ramps dry and exposing ramps at lower levels.

With all the snow in the Sierras this season it’s no surprise there’s a need to bring water levels down significantly to prepare for the anticipated excess runoff this spring.

That was quite a mess up there 2 years ago, they nearly lost the dam.
 
“California” is not a water management agency, except with respect to the State Water Project. It doesn’t “dump” water, unless the reservoir behind Oroville Dam is full, or there is some emergency related to dam safety. Subscribers to the State Water Project would go ballastic if the State dumped water—and most of the subscribers do not receive water from the Colorado River...

...you’re getting bad info...
 
The whole thing didn't sound right to me but this is what one park ranger told him....according to him.

And back to the original question, which has been answered, was if there was a scheduled dump planned for Lake Powell. The rest of the info is what a ranger supposedly told a houseboat owner and I am just relaying what he told me.

I really don't care who manages the water in California, just want Powell to come up enough to use all the launch ramps again.

Cheers.
 
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