Lake Mead, 'Colossus' and El Niño 1983

Emily Green's post today reminds me of the El Niño event of 1982-893, one of the strongest ones in recent (??) memory.  

What triggered my memory was her post on Lake Mead levels. Lake Mead ended last month at 1,089 feet. She noted that its highest level of 1,225.44 feet was recorded on 24 July 1983. That occurred after the memorable El Niño winter of 1982-83.

I remember that time well. I lived just outside Truckee, CA, in the Sierra Nevada about 30 miles west of Reno, NV. My house was on Glenshire Drive (see map) about 6 miles east of town. In 1983 Truckee, a pick-up truck, flannel shirt, and big dog in the truck's bed were de rigueur. I passed the Meat Loaf test: two of three ain't bad (shirt, dog).

An aside: I was working in Reno at the Desert Research Institute. I was so fed up with not having to pay state income tax in Nevada that I decided to move west into California. Love makes one do strange things...

Snow was the order of the day that winter.  I lived about 6,000 feet (1,800 meters) above mean sea level, and got incredible amounts of snow that winter. My house was also within a stone's throw of Boca Reservoir, which holds the record for California's lowest recorded temperature (1937; -45 F, -43 C). I recall one overnight low of about -30 F (-34 c).

When summer finally arrived, I had never seen so many squashed cars and collapsed roofs and decks. I realized the wisdom of A-frame houses with metal roofs in heavy snow areas.  I did not have one, and spent a fair amount of time shoveling snow from my roof. Great way to stay in shape.

An unofficial snow gauge at Donner Summit, about 15 miles west of my house, supposedly registered 800 inches (20 meters) of snowfall. Assuming you liked 'Sierra cement' skiing was great -  - if you could get to the ski areas.  I usually could, and that winter, my third one on the slopes, was a blast. Boy, did I advance; had a mid-week pass to Alpine Meadows. I'll never forget the words of Melissa, my ski instructor: "It's steep, but not life-threatening steep." Uh-huh.

I recall seeing something that spring I've never seen since: Lake Powell just a few feet below the top of Glen Canyon Dam.

Emily also reviews Michael Hiltzik's new book, Colossus: Hoover Dam and the Making of the American Century.

It doesn't sound like the SOS. She states:

Rather than expand the range of the official narrative about the Colorado and dam that gave rise to the modern Southwest, Hiltzik mines well-studied areas for neglected detail.

Sounds worthwhile. I will give it a look once I return to reading mode.

[Note added on 18 July 2010: read Hiltzik's Op-Ed,The false promise of Hoover Dam.]

"Water teaches us acceptance." -- Aasif Mandvi's character in The Last Airbender

Comments

[Hailee]

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[BxCapricorn]

For an excerpt from the book, go to this link:

http://www.usairwaysmag.com/articles/colossus_hoover_dam_and_the_making_of_the_american_century/

Always enjoy this blog. Happy 4th.

[Tim]

I remember that winter as well. We lived in an isolated subdivision, about 50 houses on 60 acres m/l, near Steamboat Springs south of Reno. The road in crossed a creek (can't remember its name) which flooded and washed out both approaches. Fortunately there was a back way, although it was not easy.

Being a slow learner, I now live on a ridge between two canyons spanned by bridges, both of which are "reaching the end of their service life."
http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist1/d1projects/albion_salmon/

[Michael]

Thanks for commenting, Todd and Emily.

Todd - I recall rafting that spring, but in the ferocious Truckee, not the Colorado. I still came close to disaster on one occasion.

Emily - I figured 'recent memory' might elicit a comment from someone. I added some more material to the post, including my employment: I was working for the Desert Research Institute in Reno. I felt guilty not paying state income tax, so I moved to California.

[Emily Green]

I'm so glad that 1983 is classed by someone else as "recent memory" that I might forget to thank you for the link. Our "El Nino" this year in Southern California produced a wholly unexceptional amount of rain, roughly 16 inches as opposed to the 15 inch "norm," and, alas, the Colorado is not filled up to its dam spillways either. So far the NWS is calling the coming season a La Nina, which, if it lasts two years, may dry things out to the point CA pols can terrorize voters into backing a water bond. Truckee, eh ... an USGS job?

[Rainbow Water Coalition]

Running the river in 1983 was also quite a thrill:
http://www.paddlermagazine.com/issues/2000_2/article_4.shtml