[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by Topspinmo

And the empire failed even with aqueducts…

True but it hung around for quite a few centuries

[Sabella]

Those in charge in The Villages, at least in Sumter county few years back, made an agreement with some bottling water company to sell them an enormous amount of our water. I think on a regular basis, so look into that and ask them.

[LuvNH]

Originally Posted by Topspinmo

There was rapid building when I got here 9 years ago and there will be rapid building after I’m gone. Population keeps growing. Will there be limit? Yes, but when?

There will also be rapid building all over Florida and the southern states as more and more people retire looking for the sun. But even though the people who have been elected to run the country are well aware of the water shortage, nobody does anything about it. Some time ago I read that water will cost a fortune at some point, and still nothing is being done to prevent a major problem.

[Wilharm]

Originally Posted by Topspinmo

Flood water are stored, if not there would no outrageous population in desert.

The Mississippi River drains a vast amount of land and none of the flood water is sent to the West. It drains to the gulf.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by Wilharm

The Mississippi River drains a vast amount of land and none of the flood water is sent to the West. It drains to the gulf.

The Mississippi River is experiencing a saltwater intrusion due to lower flows in the river which is threatening New Orlean's water supply. Pulling more water out of the river rather than letting it drain to the gulf will only make the problem worse.

The Colorado River is still threatened due to overuse.

No idea what the answer is but draining the Colorado to turn California green isn't working any more and draining the Mississippi to send the water west is not a solution either.

[LuvNH]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

The Mississippi River is experiencing a saltwater intrusion due to lower flows in the river which is threatening New Orlean's water supply. Pulling more water out of the river rather than letting it drain to the gulf will only make the problem worse.

The Colorado River is still threatened due to overuse.

No idea what the answer is but draining the Colorado to turn California green isn't working any more and draining the Mississippi to send the water west is not a solution either.

Don't forget Arizona, Lake Mead and the Colorado River mess. Green lawns in Arizona - go back north for green lawns.

[ThirdOfFive]

Originally Posted by LuvNH

Don't forget Arizona, Lake Mead and the Colorado River mess. Green lawns in Arizona - go back north for green lawns.

Actually the Colorado river system is recovering at a rate much faster than what had been forecast by the doom-and-gloomers. Lake Mead, which was at a low of 1,046 feet in October 2022, is forecast to reach a level of over 1,065 feet by January 2024 (NBC News, August 16, 2023) Which represents an increase far greater than the doleful forecasts being made a year ago.

[Bellavita]

I would like to know your expertise with this information. It seems to me that water is a limited resource all over the world. Why is central Florida any better off? We have just built 100,000 homes and there is a water company near us drawing up from the aquifers so why are we immune?




any

Originally Posted by justjim

Cape Coral is on the gulf side of Florida near Fort Myers. Attempting to compare Cape Coral water supply to Central Florida is as different as apples and oranges. Bottom line: Cape Coral available water supply has nothing at all to do with the available water in Central Florida.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by ThirdOfFive

Actually the Colorado river system is recovering at a rate much faster than what had been forecast by the doom-and-gloomers. Lake Mead, which was at a low of 1,046 feet in October 2022, is forecast to reach a level of over 1,065 feet by January 2024 (NBC News, August 16, 2023) Which represents an increase far greater than the doleful forecasts being made a year ago.

That's good news and it's a start. An extremely wet winter combined with some gains in conservation has moved things in the right direction. Hopefully, the gains will continue but unfortunately, you can't count on the wet winters. Far too soon to start counting chickens.

Useful graph and low/high data here.

[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by Wilharm

The Mississippi River drains a vast amount of land and none of the flood water is sent to the West. It drains to the gulf.

Yes, cause it rains east of Rockies. They already using up water draining west especially Colorado river basin. Colorado tried to steal plate River water but Nebraska put breaks on that idea. Now the other big problem coming, not able to generate enough electricity with empty lake.

[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by ThirdOfFive

Actually the Colorado river system is recovering at a rate much faster than what had been forecast by the doom-and-gloomers. Lake Mead, which was at a low of 1,046 feet in October 2022, is forecast to reach a level of over 1,065 feet by January 2024 (NBC News, August 16, 2023) Which represents an increase far greater than the doleful forecasts being made a year ago.

So far, nobody knows how long that will last.

[ThirdOfFive]

Originally Posted by Topspinmo

So far, nobody knows how long that will last.

Quite true, but what is known is that the amount of water available from winter runoff which feeds Lake Mead IS cyclical: dependent mainly on precipitation which varies from drought conditions to conditions of ample water over period of years, and that the drought conditions in the past year or so, over much of the country but mainly in the southwest, have shown a tremendous improvement.

This, from "In June 2022, 99% of the Southwest was under some degree of drought. Just a year later, only 28% of the region is experiencing drought, according to the U.S. Drought monitor, which defines the Southwest as Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, California and Nevada." [B]("Months of wet weather erase drought across the Southwest" Alex Hager/KUNC, July 3, 2023)[/B]

Much the same experience some years back when I lived in Duluth, Minnesota. The Big Lake was experiencing dropping water levels and of course we heard much mournful rhetoric about how that was going to negatively impact shoreline businesses, fisheries, water quality, etc. etc. After a couple of years of that though the tables turned: Superior was again up to where we were told it was supposed to be (actually a little over), and all was well. Only we never really heard much about those tables turning. Good news doesn't sell, I guess.

It seems as if it all comes down to cycles. Drought v. periods of ample water--even floods. Arctic-like winters followed by winters with relatively balmy temperatures. Hot Florida summers followed by not so hot Florida summers. Years of Hurricane seasons with a lot of hurricanes followed by years of few. Insect pests in huge numbers in some years followed by some years of little or none. And so on. We seem to keep chasing "averages" as if the average condition as far as we can determine them over the years, decades or even centuries were the Holy Grail, without realizing that a completely "average" year for whatever cycle we're studying almost never happens. And when we CAN'T nail those average years--well, then the sky is falling.

Mama Nature runs the show, and she seems to be doing a pretty darn good job at it. I doubt she knows or cares what we do to try to stymie her.