302% CRAP!!!!!!

[remoteman45]

Kevin Eubank of KSL news says the Virgin drainage is 302% of normal already this year. I guess it'll be a late start to some of our favorite canyons again this year if this trend continues.

[CarpeyBiggs]

it's early. and a la nina system is out in the pacific. still a long time to go yet...

[Scott P]

To look on the positive side, Lake Mead is at a historical low and much of the SW is suffering due to drought condtions. This is actually good news in many ways.

[ratagonia]

To look on the positive side, Lake Mead is at a historical low and much of the SW is suffering due to drought condtions. This is actually good news in many ways.

Lake Mead is low because they decided to run it low. Lake Foul is plenty full. They can run water down to Mead anytime they want - I hear, they are releasing almost 20k during February this year.

The SW does not "suffer" due to drought conditions. Perhaps some developers suffer, and golf addicts, but God gets the precip just perfect, every year, year after year. "Drought" is a normal condition here in the desert Southwest. Why do you think they call it a desert???

Tom

[Scott P]

The SW does not "suffer" due to drought conditions. Perhaps some developers suffer, and golf addicts, but God gets the precip just perfect, every year, year after year. "Drought" is a normal condition here in the desert Southwest. Why do you think they call it a desert???


Drought is normal, but in much of the SW it has been abnormally dry. Many historic creeks and springs have dried up in recent years. A good example is Fish Creek on Cedar Mesa. It was named for the fish that inhabited the creek since who knows when. At last report the fish were all dead because the creek had dried up (can anyone confirm that any survived?). Vegetation is dying in places as well (even the supposed drought resistant Junipers for example).

Maybe suffering isn't a good word since it involves natural process, but it seems that it has been unusually dry in at least parts of the SW, even though there have been some big storm events and some wetter than average years mixed in there.

Besides, (to me) the #1 thing that makes Zion special is the water and greenery with the sandstone. It's a bummer we might not all get to Kolob Creek and other canyons until late or at all, but it seems that there is a positive side.

[canyoncaver]

Ed Abbey said " The desert is not a place where there is not enough water. It is a place where there is just enough water."

(or something like that)

[live2ride]

in a month or two they will be back to saying that we are in a drought and that we cant water our lawns this year...Happens every year.

[Iceaxe]

Kevin Eubank of KSL news says the Virgin drainage is 302% of normal already this year.

The 302% is not 302% for the year, it is 302% to-date, which is a huge difference......

...and since our water year is realatively new it's easy to be extremely high or extremely low at this point. It's where we avaerage out for the year that is important.

But Utah is having a good water year to-date, which is always a good thing. :2thumbs:

[trackrunner]

I found this graph interesting. It contains water data for the last 3 years and the average for the basin. Peak date for the Virgin Basin is Mar 22.

I also checked the Kolob station. It's 340% of average today. And it has more snow and water than this time in 2005.

ftp://ftp.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/data/water/wcs/basinsweplots/ut/basinplotvirgin11.gif

http://www.ut.nrcs.usda.gov/snow/data/current/basin_charts.htm