Satellite photos show the insane impact of water sent to Lake Mead

Satellite images of the Colorado River provided by NASA

show

that the powerful rush of

water

that left Glen Canyon Dam in late April moved sand downstream. Mission accomplished the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation opened the flow up the Colorado River and downstream to Lake Mead in April. The 24 sends a stream of

water

at 39,500 cubic feet per second CFS and lasts 72 hours. The desired effect pushes sand and sediment out of the riverbed below the dam to build up sandbanks downstream. Those sandbars provide camping spots for people. the river, the slider in the image below

show

s the result, particularly in the area around Horseshoe Bend, one of the most photographed places on the Colorado River, in the image after the explosion of water coming out of Lake Powell is still visible as a white spot just below Glen Canyon.

Since this high flow experiment, Lake Powell discharges have decreased to a range of 14,000 CFS to 19,000 CFS depending on the time of day and day of the week, flows are generally highest in the afternoons and evenings depending on the Claims Office. The amount of water flowing from Lake Powell has increased due to heavy snowpack in the Colorado Rocky Mountains and other areas in the upper Colorado River basin. Each day there is an increase in flow, unlike the high flow short flow experiment. Lake Mead's level has risen about a foot and a half since May 3 and levels should continue to rise higher than projections from earlier this year that did not account for increased water flow from the snowpack.

The amount of water flowing into Lake Powell is estimated at 177 percent of the normal flow of the Colorado River. The normal flow also reflects the

impact

of the drought, as the average is determined by numbers from the last 30 years. The drought began 23 years ago. In April, the Bureau of Reclamation released its updated 24-month study that projected Lake Mead would rise 22 feet. above the level at the time and 33 feet above projections that came out just a month earlier in March, measurements in early April put the snowpack's estimated water content at 160 percent of normal levels , a welcome sign after years of severe drought beginning at At noon Friday, the surface of Lake Mead was 1,051.30 feet above sea level, even with all the water this year above average.

Lake Mead and Lake Powell are only projected to increase to 26 percent capacity. A broader

satellite

photo comparison shows a longer length of the river, but details are harder to see Rising water temperatures along the Colorado River in recent years have contributed to the establishment of populations based on Smallmouth below Glen King and Dam. The high-flow experiment could disrupt the spread of smallmouth bass, a non-native predatory species.