Leading government and academic experts have warned that Colorado is having a permanent drought, due to an increase of 0.0001 mole fraction CO2 over the past century. These experts tell us that global warming has wrecked Colorado skiing and has made spring snow cover disappear.
The Poudre River is already at flood stage and near an all-time record high for the date, with snow pack more than 200% of normal.
USGS Current Conditions for USGS 06752260 CACHE LA POUDRE RIVER AT FORT COLLINS, CO
That is good news, and hopefully next year will have more snow and rain, but for the last three years:
http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/anomimage.pl?wrc36mPpct.gif
and for Lake Powell:
By content, Lake Powell is 42.3% of Full Pool
http://lakepowell.water-data.com/
upper Colorado snowpack
http://graphs.water-data.com/ucsnowpack/
The largest users of water in the west are corn farmers, many producing biofuels. That is draining Lake Powell. The water supply into the lake is not declining.
I just drove up the Imperial Valley, and didn’t notice any corn, nor do they even bother to show it on this map:
http://ctgpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/united-states-top-corn-producing-areas-map-1024×782.jpg
Here is the map again, showing drought the last 3 years in Colorado and the rest of the West:
http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/anomimage.pl?wrc36mPpct.gif
I’m glad things have changed, will probably rain more when El Nino comes later this year.
I take it like most CAGW fools you and they are hoping for a El Nino later this year so that they can crow over how a perfectly natural event proves their idiotic climate change meme. I take it that a very cold winter doesn’t count?
Tom,
You can find global 2014 winter temps: “The average temperature across global land and ocean surfaces for the first quarter (January–March) of 2014 was the seventh warmest such period on record….” if you scroll down at:
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/2014/3
We on the West Coast had a warm winter, as did Europe etc.
And yes, we will crow next year, as you have this winter, although there is a 20% chance El Nino won’t happen.
El Centro region grows very little outside of cattle feed and fodder these days. Unionization destroyed farming in that region years ago and it is just now starting up again. There was never much effort to grow corn there. Around Yuma and Gila Bend they grow plenty of cotton, corn, wheat, and citrus during the summer. I see they don’t show that on the map you reference, although I have eaten my share of the evidence.
Water for agriculture is taken out of the Colorado River system starting all the way up in Colorado to points south, not to mention the Snake and Green rivers. None of the water makes it to the delta in the Sea of Cortez.
Lake Powell?! 😆
So a MAN MADE LAKE in the DESERT has had a few less than tropical years. Panic and raise taxes!
Lake Powell’s relative content is meaningless. While man created a space that could hold twice as much as we see there at the moment, nothing dictates that the pool might otherwise be full except our usage. And before the inevitable screech begins about man using too much water….Virtually ALL of the water stored there would not exist if not for evil man building an evil dam. Since communities using the water are likely to grow, we should build more dams and create more useful storage. Lake Powell is perfectly fulfilling its purpose for us, and providing habitat and water for untold wildlife.
Rivers overflowing with water from melting snowpack are just more evidence of climate disruption. At least that’s what they are going to say.
dmm…., AGW will likely cause early melt of snowpack during spring rains, wasting water that would have been used for irrigation if the snowpack had melted later. Unlike most enviros, I recommend building more dams.
Earth to Bob: There is no AGW. It’s a fantasy. Come into the light. Better to awaken now, before the rush.
dmm…., my neighbor across the alley acquiring a semi-domesticated Tyrannosaurus will likely cause an early death of my chickens during the coming weeks, wasting birds that would have been used to feed my family if I could hold onto them. Unlike my other neighbors, I recommend building bunkers for our chickens.
Drought, flood and anything else in between, it is all our fault!