Water and the West

Prolonged extreme drought in Western States is evidenced by historic low levels in lakes serving as reservoirs. Yesterday, Sara and I decided to take a look at Lemon Lake and Reservoir, which was created by damming the Florida River (really a brook) about 15 miles north-east of where we live. We’ve experienced surprisingly frequent afternoon showers lately, and I wondered if the water level in Lemon Lake had risen. Contrary to my hopes, it was still distressingly low. The brook feeding the lake was running briskly, but so was its continuation downstream of the dam. Apparently, water is needed so badly downstream (in the Colorado River system), that little or no water flowing into Lemon Lake stays in it. Running on empty may be the best we’ll ever do.