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> For the most part, the dams don't ultimately effect how much water comes down the Colorado--please correct if I'm wrong. Large lakes increase evaporation rat
by jcranmer 4y ago
> For the most part, the dams don't ultimately effect how much water comes down the Colorado--please correct if I'm wrong.
Large lakes increase evaporation rate of water. I think something like 10% of the allotted flow for the Colorado River is lost due to evaporation in Lake Powell and Lake Mead.
- sidewndr46 4y agoI think you're talking about at the peak. The surface area of Lake Mead is currently tiny, there is only so much that can be lost through evaporation there.
- ghaff 4y ago247 square miles of surface area is tiny? Less than at capacity certainly but still significant.
- Denvercoder9 4y agoHow does that work? Naively I'd expect big reservoirs to decrease evaporation rate, as the surface-to-volume ratio is lower due to the cube-square law.