Snowmelt to raise Lake Powell by 50 feet

[eks]

CLick here

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation says the Rocky Mountain snowpack will raise half-empty Lake Powell by 50 feet, opening a crucial shortcut for boaters for the first time in five years.

The so-called Castle Rock cut -- still a stretch of exposed rock -- will let houseboats get to the most popular beaches quickly from Wahweap marina on the Utah-Arizona border, shaving a dozen miles off the trip.

Park concessionaire Aramark says it's offering a free day on houseboat rentals plus a $200 fuel credit if the Castle Rock cut doesn't open by June 15, when the peninsula is expected to disappear under 20 feet of water.

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area spokesman Kevin Schneider says a nearly decade-long drought has made impassable many of the labyrinth canyons of the 186-mile-long reservoir. The biggest obstacle for many boaters motoring upstream was Castle Rock.

Impressive Rocky Mountains snowfall will boost flows into the Colorado River, but scientists say one good winter doesn't necessarily mean the end of a long drought.

[chpthril]

Al Gore is the MAN he's really on top of his global warming game ain't he

Seriously tho, that's good news for a lot of people

[Timmy!]

Keep your fingers crossed that it actually happens because last year we had a ton of snow in the mountains and it got hotter than average early in April and evaporated the snow instead of it melting and then there wasn't the predicted amount of snow melt! You never know what's going to happen!

[talltigeguy]

Good point Timmy. It has to melt right also. I still haven't figured out how they have decided what Mead gets, but it would be easy to envision Mead stealing some of the runoff.

[Timmy!]

I still don't see where there would be that much water to raise the lake by 50', that is a LOT of water to come from 1 season of snow.

[talltigeguy]

I still don't see where there would be that much water to raise the lake by 50', that is a LOT of water to come from 1 season of snow.

50 feet is generous for sure. The website I visit says that the snowpack is only 113% of normal. The snowpack reaches its max on April 15.

http://lakepowell.water-data.com/

[KonaKing]

Tax day

[chpthril]

50 feet is generous for sure. The website I visit says that the snowpack is only 113% of normal. The snowpack reaches its max on April 15.

http://lakepowell.water-data.com/

Tax day

That means the Gov will take it's 25%

[KonaKing]

Funny but probally true

[sparky216]

Tax day

just had to bring that up eh? I usually mosey on down to the post office around 2342, send my check with minutes to spare.......fun times. My daughter, poor kid, will be 9 on April,15.......what a frickin bday

[Eliana]

Hmmm rock salt is used for deicing roads, driveways and sidewalks. It is not so expensive compound to use for melting ice. In this salt, there are high quantities of minerals. It works quickly and effectively to melt ice and keep traffic moving.