Comments on: Snowpack in the Colorado River basin to be 122% of normal; extra water for Lake Mead will mean lake level will only drop 5 feet (instead of 11 feet) http://aquafornia.com/archives/2942 The California Water News blog! Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:13:16 -0700 hourly 1 By: Ray Walker http://aquafornia.com/archives/2942/comment-page-1#comment-1335 Ray Walker Tue, 15 Apr 2008 16:44:32 +0000 http://aquafornia.com/archives/2942#comment-1335 When full, Lake Mead has a surface of 158,000 acres. At an evaporation rate of 5 vertical feet per year, evaporation losses are about 750,000 acre feet, which is less than the 1,000,000 acre feet that the new fresh water Source can provide. It is rather ironic that the projected LOSS of five (5) vertical feet of water in Lake Mead this year could be ZERO (0) if the new Source was available. In about the same amount of time that Lake Mead is predicted to go dry by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego , the excess 1,000,000 acre feet from the non-tributary Source could be accumulated to actually keep Lake Mead FULL ! (That is only one of many options.) When FULL, the seventeen turbine-generators at the Lake Mead powerhouse generate a maximum of 2,074 megawatts of hydroelectric power. An average megawatt is the energy produced by the continuous operation of one megawatt of capacity over a period of one year (8,760,000 kilowatt-hours). A megawatt is worth $.05 per KW Hr X 8,760,000 = $438,000/year. Lake Mead averages 1840 megawatts = $ 0.81 Billion/year. Present worth of .8 Billion/year @ 3% interest = $ 26 Billion. Strange....that the Bureau of Reclamation, Nevada and the Southern Nevada Water Authority cannot investigate a new fresh water Source that when developed will preserve Lake Mead and not damage the water rights of anyone, anywhere or the environment. Maybe the Bureau, Nevada and the Southern Nevada Water Authority are waiting until Lake Mead and its 2000 megawatts of power are gone before they consider investigation a worthwhile endeavor for the people they serve...? Ray Walker (Retired Water Rights Analyst) waterrdw@yahoo.com When full, Lake Mead has a surface of 158,000 acres. At an evaporation rate of 5 vertical feet per year, evaporation losses are about 750,000 acre feet, which is less than the 1,000,000 acre feet that the new fresh water Source can provide.

It is rather ironic that the projected LOSS of five (5) vertical feet of water in Lake Mead this year could be ZERO (0) if the new Source was available.

In about the same amount of time that Lake Mead is predicted to go dry by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego , the excess 1,000,000 acre feet from the non-tributary Source could be accumulated to actually keep Lake Mead FULL ! (That is only one of many options.)

When FULL, the seventeen turbine-generators at the Lake Mead powerhouse generate a maximum of 2,074 megawatts of hydroelectric power. An average megawatt is the energy produced by the continuous operation of one megawatt of capacity over a period of one year (8,760,000 kilowatt-hours). A megawatt is worth $.05 per KW Hr X 8,760,000 = $438,000/year. Lake Mead averages 1840 megawatts = $ 0.81 Billion/year. Present worth of .8 Billion/year @ 3% interest = $ 26 Billion.

Strange….that the Bureau of Reclamation, Nevada and the Southern Nevada Water Authority cannot investigate a new fresh water Source that when developed will preserve Lake Mead and not damage the water rights of anyone, anywhere or the environment.

Maybe the Bureau, Nevada and the Southern Nevada Water Authority are waiting until Lake Mead and its 2000 megawatts of power are gone before they consider investigation a worthwhile endeavor for the people they serve…?

Ray Walker (Retired Water Rights Analyst) waterrdw@yahoo.com

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