Question of the Day - 18 August 2022

Even the two major storms and several minor ones that have hit southern Nevada since late July are a drop in the proverbial bucket compared to how much is needed to make a dent in the drought. 

Monsoon rains, even heavy ones, are good for watering the local landscaping, but when it comes to filling up Lake Powell and Lake Mead, about 98% of that water comes from the Colorado River watershed much farther north and east than the lakes themselves. It's all predicated on the snowpack in the Colorado Rockies. After a good series of storms early last winter there, drought conditions returned and the snowpack wound up at only 60% of normal. With the ongoing dry conditions, much of the snowpack gets absorbed by the soil along the way, reducing river runoff and impacting the runoff into Powell and Mead. 

All that said, every little bit helps and the lake level has risen three inches over the past few weeks, but that's mainly due to the seven million acre feet of water released in the spring from Lake Powell, which has slowly been arriving in Lake Mead. That has helped as well, but again, the bucket analogy pertains, since Mead was dropping three or so inches every day prior to it. 

Bottom line: We need a wet winter with lots of snow and a well-above-average snowpack to impact Lake Mead, not monsoon thunderstorms, even big ones that cause major flooding. 

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