This video does not live up to its title of The Real Reason Lake Mead Will Dry Up because it does not identify that reason. It lays the blame on several things, and accurately predicts its future as a dust bowl, but it does not identify the real reason Lake Mead will dry up.
The Video Blames.
This video lays the blame on [1:01] “The lack of foresight, and over allocation,” [1:12] “… the mismanagement it faced for nearly a century,… inevitable environmental factors…” [8:01] “… reactive rather than proactive [plans]” and [8:57] “… more intense droughts and higher temperatures due to climate change.” Then, 8-minutes later concludes that [17:02] “Only through collaborative efforts and a commitment to sustainable solutions can we hope to secure the future of Lake Mead….”
What is being blamed are secondary results of the underlying cause, the root cause. So, let’s look for the real reason, the underlying thing which is causing Lake Mead to dry up.
Root Cause
Let’s first understand the problem. Let’s think out of the box for a minute.
Lake Mead, and the other reservoirs along the Colorado River are going dry because the Colorado River’s flow has diminished.
Colorado River’s flow is less, as is the flow of the other 157 rivers originating from the Colorado mountains, since 2000 because the Colorado mountain snowpack has been less.
Colorado mountain snowpack has been less during the Mega-Drought.
Mega-Drought began in 2000 in the SW-USA because of Domino-Droughts throughout the SW-USA.
Domino-Droughts began with one drought in the Colorado River Delta.
Colorado River Delta was a 3,000 sq-mi, lush, green wetland but began losing its water in 1936. It went completely dry in 1999, because the Colorado River became dry 60-miles before the ocean. This former delta is now a 3,000 sq-mi, dry, desolate desert.
Colorado River no longer flows into its delta because all the water is being extracted from the river for human use, much of it being exported out of its watershed.
Unwritten Law.
There is an unwritten natural law which states that: “Removing large quantities of freshwater from its watershed will create unintended consequences; usually negative.” Draining the Colorado River dry, leaving no moisture for the delta is a problem. We have taken too much from nature. We have not respected the resource. We broke a hydrologic cycle.
Let’s fix the problem.
There are two ways to fix the problem.
1. Stop taking freshwater out of the watershed.
I do not think this will happen because approximately 40-million people rely on that freshwater for life and livelihood. I think they would complain. Their freshwater could be replaced by desalination, but this is massively expensive and has some environmental concerns. Freshwater is available and apparently plentiful in adjacent watersheds; this is also massively expensive and would create additional unintended consequences in those places.
2. Repair the water cycle.
This approach involves developing an alternative water source, utilizes natural processes, and requires some investment into existing technologies and infrastructure. The goal is to replace the lost moisture input. We can replicate the lost water cycle.
Can humans replicate a water cycle?
This sounds like a big task; nigh on to impossible. Well, if man can break it, he should be able to fix it. So, yes, humans can fix it, and it is a viable option. The cost of constructing, operating, and maintaining this project is considerable, but it can be collected from a water-use-fee imposed on the users of the Colorado River water as they continue to remove water out of the watershed. They broke the water cycle; it is only logical that they pay to repair it.
Because this operation spans multiple US states, it must be coordinated by the US government. Fortunately, the government already has an agency in place for this: The US Bureau of Reclamation. This type of project is fully within their mission: “The mission of the Bureau of Reclamation is to manage, develop, and protect water and related resources in an environmentally and economically sound manner in the interest of the American public.” An exact fit.
How to replace the hydrologic cycle.
The above video illustrates how the Coyote Canal can be reenvisioned and reversed.
1. Colorado River Delta > Laguna Salada.
The plan begins here, with some agreement from Mexico, the flow of the Coyote Canal will be reversed. The Coyote Canal was installed as an overflow path for Laguna Salada. Today, with Laguna Salada being dry, overflow is not a problem. Refilling Laguna Salada will provide a shallow, warm body of saltwater, with a large surface area, to be an atmosphere moisture generator for the water cycle. By increasing the length of Coyote Canal, moisture can reach more parts of the desert delta on its way to Laguna Salada, thus providing hydration to more land, and more opportunity to infuse the atmosphere with moisture.
2. Laguna Salada > Salton Sea.
The Coyote Canal can be extended to the Salton Sea. This will be a new 60-mile-long metered-flow canal which must pass through a 150-foot hill. By extending the Coyote Canal past Laguna Salada and into the Salton Sea, Laguna Salada water salinity will be kept stable near the ocean salinity level.
3. Salton Sea > Great Basin.
The surface level of the Salton Sea can be maintained at its 1950s level by the metered flow of the Coyote Canal. The saltwater entering the Salton Sea will reduce the salinity of the Salton Sea. Over time the salinity and agricultural pollution of the Salton Sea will be reduced by the flowthrough of water into the Great Basin. At the same time the Salton Sea will once again become a place for people to work and play.
4. Great Basin > Great Salt Lake.
The Salton Sea water pumped into the Great Basin will reside in a currently dry depression, where natural processes take over. No human hands are needed for evaporation to remove freshwater into the atmosphere and leave behind the salt and pollutants. The natural processes of the water cycle within the Great Basin will move the freshwater around and deposit it into the Great Salt Lake. The surface level of the Great Salt Lake is the gauge which will determine the amount of water imported into the Great Basin.
5. Great Salt Lake > Colorado Mountains.
No human hands are needed for this part. By returning the moisture into the Great Basin and the Great Salt Lake, the original hydrologic cycle will be restored. The Colorado Mountains will be receiving enough moisture to return full flow to all 158 named rivers originating in those mountains.
Conclusion.
We cannot rob Mother Nature without receiving a punishment. This broken water cycle is our penalty for years of robbing Mother Nature. Let’s not accept the new normal. Let’s resist the aridification of the SW-USA and the Colorado River Watershed. Let’s put the US Bureau of Reclamation to work within their assigned mission. One last thing, once the river is returned to full flow, let’s allow a constant flow into the Colorado River Delta, returning to Mother Nature her share.
Proponent.
Move the Water! is the proposed initiative of Active Climate Rescue Initiative. Active Climate Rescue Initiative is founded to actively rescue our climate by encouraging positive climate change through water relocation into earth’s water deficit areas. Anyplace in the world where there is a dry depression is a place where there is a moisture deficit. These places are the key to reversing climate change. By infusing these places with water from an open flow inlet, moisture can be reintroduced into the local environment through hydrologic processes. Active Climate Rescue Initiative is a Michigan Non-Profit Corporation approved by the USA IRS as a 501.c.3 Public Charity.
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