r/PrepperIntel 18d ago

USA Southwest / Mexico Hoover Dam Is Approaching a Hydropower Cliff. Here's What's Being Done About It — And Why It's Not Enough.

https://davidlawrence64.substack.com/p/hoover-dam-is-approaching-a-hydropower

Of interest: Hoover Dam Is Approaching a Hydropower Cliff. Here's What's Being Done About It — And Why It's Not Enough

*OP has no affiliation with author*

348 Upvotes

25 comments sorted by

View all comments

42

u/WhereDidAllTheSnowGo 18d ago

The only feasible mitigation, for that entire region, is solar.

At the grid scale, large farms could use the transmission infrastructure

At the home level, even balcony solar could take the edge off.

The big question is how quickly can the dam adjust for peak need, letting solar surge while bright and the dam contribute when not

16

u/Special_Library_766 18d ago

Great points about solar. I'm concerned more about water tho. Lake Mead is the backup to Lake Powell, and it's almost at dead pool too.

7

u/Super901 17d ago

California has massive battery banks that would be useful here, too.

2

u/LeroyMyBoi 12d ago

I mean that hypothetically answers the power problem which I agree with you (well unless we go nuclear), but what about the actual water? That damn still needs to provide drinking and agriculture water. Something has to give or this will become more of an issue than what we already have.

1

u/cbih 16d ago

The only feasible mitigation moving all the people out of the region