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"Engineers and planners don’t actually know what the worst case scenario drought will be over the lifetime of a reservoir."
by Overtonwindow 4y ago
"Engineers and planners don’t actually know what the worst case scenario drought will be over the lifetime of a reservoir."
- Victerius 4y agoHmmm, total depletion, Aral Sea style? Why isn't that the worst case scenario?
- pitaj 4y agoI think you misunderstood. That quote is saying that planners have no way of actually predicting how bad the worst possible drought will be for the area serviced by the reservoir over the lifetime of the reservoir, so they can't actually design the reservoir to handle the worst-case scenario.
- ziddoap 4y agoWorst-case drought, as in, for how long. Not the worst-case scenario for the reservoir. If they knew the worst-case drought possible would last N days, they could design the reservoir to hold N+1 days worth of water. Alas, they don't know N. Edit: Near end of day... Can you tell? Wrote draught instead of drought.
- bombcar 4y agoWhy didn't they build it with 3001 hulls!
- MegaButts 4y agoWhat a wonderful reference. https://youtu.be/xJxwvZ5SE_c https://youtu.be/xJxwvZ5SE_c
- Terr_ 4y ago> Near end of day... Can you tell? Wrote draught instead of drought. Just before your edit, I spent a while amused at the vision of some guy trying to chug the entire reservoir while being egged-on by inebriated friends.
- formerkrogemp 4y ago>> Near end of day... Can you tell? Wrote draught instead of drought. >Just before your edit, I spent a while amused at the vision of some guy trying to chug the entire reservoir while being egged-on by inebriated friends. I think that's how I'd describe water usage in the American southwest, sure.
- anigbrowl 4y agoWe're well on our way to finding out. One of the transformers on the Hoover Dam blew up this morning; no interruption to water or electrical output, but a troubling reminder of the possibilities.
- SoftTalker 4y agoWas that related in any way to the water level, or just cooincidental?
- anigbrowl 4y agoNo idea, it'll probably take a few days or weeks to figure that out.