Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #coriver
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The Colorado River #CORiver crisis affects the whole of the Southwest: humans, wildlife, food supply, air quality.
But there's an overarching, urgent moral imperative, & that's the 40 million people who rely on it.
The inequities between those people present a stark reality đ§”:
But there's an overarching, urgent moral imperative, & that's the 40 million people who rely on it.
The inequities between those people present a stark reality đ§”:
People hear 40M & they mostly think of golf courses & suburbs. Maybe they think of alfalfa farms & winter broccoli.
But there are millions & millions people from low income, disadvantaged communities throughout the Basin whose lives are on the line.
But there are millions & millions people from low income, disadvantaged communities throughout the Basin whose lives are on the line.
Urban Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Clark, Maricopa, and Pima Counties have an avg. 14% poverty rate. That's millions of people. The vast majority of whom rely on the Colorado River to sustain their lives. People who probably have no ability to leave if the tap runs dry.
1. Previously I provided plots and threads of Lakes Mead and Powell contents separately. This short thread deals with the combined contents of both reservoirs and projections out to Aug 2023. The combined contents provides a complete view of the problem. #coriver #ClimateCrisis 
2. This shows the combined contents back to 1935 when only Mead existed. In 1963 Lake Powell begins to fill. By 1983 the two are totally full -- even over full for a bit as Lake Powell had temp plywood boards installed to prevent downstream flooding.
3. By next year the combined contents will be below 30%, less than some years when only Mead existed before 1963. And the minimum probable projections put the contents around 20% (10 maf total) in 2023.
1. Here are the 24 month Lake Powell projections to Aug 2023. Both last month (Sep) and this month (Oct) projections are shown for "minimum probable" and "most probable". #coriver #climatechange @R_EricKuhn @jfleck
2. The Min Probable projections for both Sep and Oct are well below safe minimum power elevation of 3525 for most of the projections and even below the top of the penstocks at 3490 for some time.
3. The Most Prob projections for Sep and Oct keep Powell in reduced releases to Lake Mead, 7.48 maf, thus ensuring Mead also drops.
2. Reclamationâs âunregulated inflowsâ into Lake Powell show that 2021 will be the 2nd worst year after only 2002 going back to 1964. 2021 will be the RED bar most likely. This is a really grim year for runoff.
3. 2021 Inflow will be only ~3 maf, compared to the 1981-2010 average of 10.3 maf or the 2000-2021 average of 8.3 maf (20% less than 1981-2010 average).
(maf = million acrefeet)
(maf = million acrefeet)
4. Considering that Powell will release / evap ~ 8.5 maf, the lake will lose ~ 5 maf this year or ~55 feet of elevation.
Groundwater plays an essential role in the health of AZ's rivers and our state's water security. As our state begins to use less #CORiver water, sustainable management of groundwater will be more important than ever in the years to come. @alisteinbach
azcentral.com/story/news/locâŠ
azcentral.com/story/news/locâŠ
As recent research from @UofA/@coschoolofmines points out, âArizona has experienced significant declines in stream flows â between 10 and 50% â due purely to groundwater pumping.â
advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/6/eaâŠ
advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/6/eaâŠ
In 2017, WRA outlined Arizonaâs use of groundwater and pointed to sustainable solutions to help communities across Arizona better manage their water resources and mitigate potential future shortages.
westernresourceadvocates.org/publications/aâŠ
westernresourceadvocates.org/publications/aâŠ
