Tow Vehicle

[larry_arizona]

Build wind and solar fields out west…….kidding

But seriously should start plans on some natural gas powered generators ASAP or the Texas outage is going to look like child’s play.


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[2in2out]

Add them to the plans to transfer Columbia River water to California, Mississippi River water to Colorado, etc., etc.

Considering the Lake Powell pipeline is currently projected at $2B for a pipeline not even 200 miles long (though with 5 massive pump stations), what do you think a 1500 mile long pipeline that lifts water 3,000 feet in elevation would run?

I’ve recently been pondering why no engineers have looked towards history for a solution.

Part of the drought problem in the west has been alterations in local ecosystems from water diversion projects. Nearest to me are the Newlands Project (diverting the Truckee River from Pyramid Lake and the dry Winnemucca Lake), the LA aqueduct robbing water from Mono Lake and the now dry Owens Lake, and the Stillwater preserve of the Carson Sink.

All of these places historically had significant more water until human intervention in the 1920-30’s. These water sources influenced local and eastward weather patterns into the Great Basin and western front of the Rockies, by allowing for lake effect snowfalls, increased evaporative recharge during monsoonal flows, and greater vegetative humidification reserves.

Even the modifications to the Sac, Mokuleme, and Consummes River Deltas in the California Central Valley have altered weather patterns and rainfall amounts from summer monsoonal flows.

So, looking back at history, there is a currently functioning highly efficient means of moving large volumes of water that was engineered in the 1860’s by Dr D. M. Geiger. The Virginia City flume.

This flume is powered only by gravity. It has been repaired several times since it was initially built, and has supplied Virginia City with water from Marlette Lake near Lake Tahoe reliably since.

It is a 47 mile long gravity siphon. Why we couldn’t do the same with sea water is beyond me. We have the technology to be able to have synchronized valves to resist the initial head pressures and monitor suction. The salinity of most of the desert areas that were drained is similar to sea water, and desalination can be accomplished with dilution from other sources. A flow of 1000 gpm into the Owens Valley could greatly improve snowpack in the high Uintas.


Making my new SA build come true!!!

[HFarr]

LOL! You guys are awesome! Being an engineer, I am loving this! Gimme a bit to think and I'm gonna poke y'all with another stick to get you two going some more!

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[HFarr]

Definitely can't say y'all haven't done your research!

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[sandm]

Our reliance on reservoirs has improved reliability of water delivery immensely, but as you note has led to entitlement regarding water availability. Simply put, the Imperial Valley (and other arid areas) should not be a big agricultural area and irrigation should be used to supplement in times of drought and to enhance borderline agricultural areas, not expand agriculture to areas that are not well suited at all.

I would say that if you go back in ancient history, civilization has figured out ways to divert/store water to allow man to live in areas otherwise uninhabitable and grow crops in areas that are unfeasable. mead/powell are doing exactly what part of their plan was in that it allows unfertile areas to be watered/grow crops and man to live in the desert. the unintended byproduct(as you have mentioned in the past) are that water levels are dropping to a point that power generation and recreation are struggling but they are still providing one of their intended results- water for man.
the issue and again as you have pointed out are that we have overpromised the water shares and mother nature has underdelivered and lawyers say farmers get water.

what I struggle with here: las vegas puts 99% of all water drawn out of mead for human consumption/use from your household back into mead again as treated/filtered water but only 60% of outside use(landscaping/pools/grass/carwash) water is recaptured and returned. with an average of 5000 people/month still moving to the valley and EVERYONE wanting pools/lush landscaping and driving new cars that they wash weekly, that's driving a TON of waste here and sure it's an issue in arizona/cali as well. our last 2 houses here had pools. I averaged 4-6" per week of evaporation from end of may to mid september. imagine that across all the pools here in vegas with more online every day-and lets not talk infinity edge pools and evaporation when it's 110 out.... I can see down into my neighbor's pool from our back yard. they have used it a total of 3 days this year but are adding water every week to keep it full. neighbor on the other side hasn't been in his in 5 years(per his account) but he still keeps it full, heated and powered.
we had pools from '18 to '20 and used them a total of 6 times in 2 years but still had to fill them weekly.

lots of moving parts to water conservation but so far seems everyone is pointing the finger at agriculture. laughlin/bullhead city post daily water flow from mead/davis dam and flows increase during the day for power generation from all the ac's. more wind/solar would help reduce that load and allow less water flow for power. hefty water use prices for people with pools would sure change the tune on them.

zog, keep posting up facts on powell. I have loved reading them in the past and visiting page earlier this year helped me put a lot of what you have written into perspective... it is a BEAUTIFUL place and will be sad if it goes.

[larry_arizona]

I know this thread has taken a detour from tow vehicles, but Powell is a fascinating topic. I have questions…..lol

Let’s start a Powell thread and restore the tow thread.


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[Holdmybeer]

Speaking of tow vehicles.
Since so many of you work in the automotive industry like myself, if anyone knows where I can get around 1000 Allison transmission TCUs it would help keep us working for another 2 weeks.....lol

[Josh828]

Speaking of tow vehicles I went a direction I didnt think I ever would be able to again...

Just picked up a 2007 Classic LBZ Duramax SLT on the cheap.
Its super rough but should get the job done for now and go under the knife this winter.
Its currently at the detailer for the inside to get an idea if its going to come clean or be replaced.

Later it will be getting completely repainted. Few bits of body work nothing bad though
Then engine will be gone through and built up to about 450whp along with all the drive parts
I had a 05 LLY duramax and it came up I first tuned it 8 years ago to the day so this is bringing back memories.

Truck will be a good farm truck and pull the boat. For my long distance driver though probably look back into something fun like a Audi S8 or ctsV

[cucv]

We had guests to the lake last weekend who love their Teslas. Towed there new boat to the lake and had a great weekend. They took off Sunday night and about 20 miles south on their way home there is a long hill on the highway they got to drive down on the way to the lake but really zapped the battery on the way home. They got off the highway and found a place to ditch the boat and proceeded to a fast charging station. All the chargers where broken. They made it to a slow charging station with 3% power. After a bit they realized it would take them all night to get the boat home so they called to see if we could help. I had planned to work from the lake on Monday but my wife was heading home anyway. I had to laugh when they asked if the Suburban could handle the load. I know it's only a 5.3...lol. Super proud of my wife towing it home 50 mile. She's been in training for years just hasn't taken the reigns on her own.


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[Zog]

I would love to get an electric truck to tow with, but am really concerned about the legs it would have and lack of charging infrastructure on the way to/from Lake Powell. They advertise the Cybertruck with 500+ miles range, but the closest take in is 300+ miles from home and that doesn't account for the expected range drop due to towing. If there were charging infrastructure at the lake where I could plug in after launching the boat, it might be feasible, but there isn't power available for much of anything at the lake since they generate all power onsite. Until something comes along to solve that problem, we will have to make do with big engined trucks and SUVs.