January 19th, 2013 Category: Lakes, Mountains

USA and Mexico – January 17th, 2013

Snow covers mountain ranges in southwestern USA, including the Sierra Nevada Mountains, which border the San Joaquin Valley, in southern California (upper left quadrant). The snow contrasts with the more arid land between ranges and in Mexico (lower half of image). Visible in the snow-free areas are bodies of waters such as the three-pronged Lake Mead (above center), in Arizona and Nevada, Lake Powell, surrounded by snow near the top edge, in Arizona and Utah, and the Salton Sea, in California near the Mexican border and northwest of the Gulf of California.

Tags: Arizona Baja California Gulf of California Lake Mead Lake Powell Mexico Nevada Salton Sea Sea of Cortez Sierra Nevada Mountains Snow USA | Comments |

November 2nd, 2012 Category: Lakes, Rivers

USA – October 27th, 2012

Visible amidst the dry, rocky terrain of the western USA are lakes, rivers and gorges. By the left edge is the three-pronged Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States in maximum water capacity. However, the lake has not reached this capacity in more than a decade, due to increasing droughts. It is located on the Colorado River, in the states of Nevada and Arizona.

Following the river eastward, one runs through the Grand Canyon (center) to Lake Powell (right), a reservoir on the Colorado River, straddling the border between Utah and Arizona. It is the second largest man-made reservoir in maximum water capacity in the United States, behind its neighbor, Lake Mead. Current water levels, however, put Lake Powell ahead of Lake Mead in water volume and surface area.

Tags: Arizona Colorado River Grand Canyon Lake Mead Lake Powell Nevada USA Utah | Comments |

October 1st, 2012 Category: Image of the day, Lakes

USA – September 16th, 2012

Visible amidst the red and pink hues of the surrounding landscape are the dark waters of Lake Powell, a reservoir on the Colorado River, straddling the border between Utah and Arizona. It is the second largest man-made reservoir in maximum water capacity in the United States behind Lake Mead, storing 24,322,000 acre feet (3.0001×1010 m3) of water when full. Lake Powell was created by the flooding of Glen Canyon by the controversial Glen Canyon Dam.

Tags: Arizona Colorado River Glen Canyon Lake Powell USA Utah | Comments |

April 6th, 2012 Category: Image of the day, Lakes, Rivers

USA - April 3rd, 2012

Two large reservoirs can be observed in this image of western USA: Lake Mead, by the left edge, and Lake Powell, created by the Glen Canyon Dam, by the right edge. Both are important sources of water in this arid region. Lake Mead straddles the Arizona-Nevada border, and Lake Powell is on the Arizona-Utah border. Aqueducts carry water from the system to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego, and other communities in the Southwest.

There is, however, a 50 percent chance that Lake Mead, which was created by the Hoover Dam and the Colorado River, will go dry by 2021 because of escalating human demand and climate change, according to a study by Tim Barnett and David Pierce of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography of the University of California at San Diego.

By 2017, there is a 50 percent chance that the reservoir could drop so low that Hoover Dam could no longer produce hydroelectric power. Water conservation and mitigation technologies and policies thus need to be implemented now, the study stated.

The disappearance of the manmade lake would create a tidal wave of ill effects for the southwestern U.S. The lake provides water for large cities like Los Angeles and Las Vegas, as well as for several agricultural interests. The power also keeps on the lights in that region of the country.

Tags: Arizona Colorado River Glen Canyon Hoover Dam Lake Mead Lake Powell Nevada USA Utah | Comments |