'Climate change has become real': extreme weather sinks prime US tourism site

[rpannier]

At Lake Powell on the Arizona-Utah border, the water line has dropped to a historic low, taking a heavy toll on the local industry

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“This is a crisis for our community that is just as bad as Covid,” West said of Page, which has a population of 7,500 and is the main service hub for Lake Powell. “It is peak season and the whole town is being hit hard – the restaurants, the grocery stores, the bars, we are all feeling it.”

While climate change has exacerbated wildfires, heatwaves and flash floods this summer, it is also taking a heavy toll on the tourism industry that’s dependent on Lake Powell. Last week the water line reached a historic low of 3,554ft, a level that has not been seen since 1969, when the reservoir was first filled. The giant reservoir is currently three-quarters empty and will keep dropping at least through next spring due to record low snowpack levels in the Colorado River basin.

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“We sent out plenty of advisories to stakeholders about the possibility of very low lake levels this year and no one took it seriously,” said Billy Shott, superintendent of the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, which manages Lake Powell. He compares the park’s regular drought notices to routine avalanche alerts in the mountains. “Well, now the avalanche has actually happened. Climate change has become real at Lake Powell.”

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/29/lake-powell-arizona-utah-climate-crisis

[2naSalit]

1. Tourism isn't all it's cracked up to be...

And it's helping to trash what's left of the biosphere's health and ability to support human life.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

2. Tournism was not lake's objective. Lake is designed to be a sustainable support for human life

The lake has not been defeated by tourism, rather by climate change. It will be back, though low lake levels will probably become more common.

[2naSalit]

3. I get that the lake is for something other than tourism.

However, there won't be any water for the lake in coming years due to climate change exacerbated by tourism, especially in the headwaters ares from whence all that water cometh. I can tell you right now that a large portion of the water for most of the west will not be forthcoming in a matter of a few years. This ecosystem in my region is going to crash and soon because tourism has no boundaries which means humans are trashing this ecosystem exponentially more with each passing year. From what I am seeing this year, we have less than ten years before complete collapse happens.

[jaxexpat]

4. Tourism is a side-line for the lake.

The primary function was to store water so people and their vegetables could thrive in the desert.

We could soon see the irony of great-grandchildren of "Okies" migrating to Oklahoma.

The Colorado, America's Aral Sea experience, where National Lampoon's Vacation meets the Grapes of Wrath.

[Scrivener7]

5. "Has become."