What's the water situation in AZ for real?

[Packard fan]

I'm in Bullhead City and word is we get our water from wells which kinda scares me because our aquifier ain't doing real well. Crazy because I can walk to the river in 10 minutes.

[Potential_Landlord]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

Well, it was all facts and you can believe it or not. I spent 40 years working in water resources engineering in the southwestern US. I have a very good understanding of the water situation. Your own link bore me out that it was a good year on the Colorado this year. The big problem is that the situation is far too complex to discuss in detail in this forum setting. So do your own research, from respected sources, and you will find that what I said, anyone contemplating a move to Phoenix does not have anything to worry about with regard to water supply for the long foreseeable future (many decades) is completely accurate. Be advised though. The picture is not as rosy in much of the state as it is in Phoenix, and there are places in the state that are experiencing problems today and they could well get worse.

How come the reservoir levels along the Colorado river are at multi-decade lows? Even after good winter run-off?

[jamies]

^^^ Because the snow hasn't been enough for ten years. Lake Powell is at like 37%, Lake Mead is allowed to draw down but Lake Mohave and Havassu are full. When Powell hits zero it's lights out!

They need to be building a pipe from the midwest now. Problem is pumping it over the contenintal divide.

Or maybe if LA would stop taking our water, and shut off the spigot to Mexico.

This is a disaster of epic porportions in the making.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Potential_Landlord

How come the reservoir levels along the Colorado river are at multi-decade lows? Even after good winter run-off?

They're not. Powell is 15 feet higher than it was this time last year. Mead is at record low slightly under the 2010 record low, but they won't move this year.s water down there till later this year. The water delivery amount to Mead comes out in about August. Last year it was the lowest ever. It may or may not be more this year as the formula is complicated. In any case no reductions are expected until at least 2017. One good El Nino year (I have my fingers crossed though I am not convinced El Nino plays all that great a role. In 2011, there was a really good snowpack and that was a La Nina year) and it could all change. Such is life in the west.

[shiphead]

Originally Posted by Potential_Landlord

Unfortunately most Arizonans are completely deluded and have the "we don't need anyone" attitude. In reality we are among the states most dependent on the federal government and neighboring states due to our climate and geography. What we need is a next gen Hoover Dam project, call it the "Great American Aqueduct" that would transfer enough water to the Colorado river basin either from the Great Lakes or desalinated ocean water from California. This would be the most gigantic infrastructure project in our nation's history but that's what is necessary for AZ and the whole Southwest now. Needless to say this can only come from the federal government and we should start lobbying and petitioning. Instead we point the finger at the president when he comes for a visit. Karma is a batch and this along with the general Arizona independence hubris will come to bite us in the back. After some humiliation I hope we can do the right thing though. A similar process -just from the other side of the political spectrum- would be necessary for equally deluded California eco-nimbys.

You are saying we need leaders, the likes of Barry Goldwater and Theodore Roosevelt? I like it. My thought on this is the huge population near the ocean, LA and San Diego, would make an aqueduct system really hard. The union relations on the California side would jump such a federal project to ridiculous levels, this is before desalination was even brought into thought.

I am not NIMBY'ing this idea, I just can't even imagine dealing with the giant mess that is California.

[AlohaFriday]

Originally Posted by shiphead

You are saying we need leaders, the likes of Barry Goldwater and Theodore Roosevelt? I like it. My thought on this is the huge population near the ocean, LA and San Diego, would make an aqueduct system really hard. The union relations on the California side would jump such a federal project to ridiculous levels, this is before desalination was even brought into thought.

I am not NIMBY'ing this idea, I just can't even imagine dealing with the giant mess that is California.

Whatever California has it together more than we do. They're building desal plants and high-speed trains, making money off of carbon taxes and have one of the world's largest economies.

What's Arizona done lately except build houses?