There is only One Great Lake: Tahoe
Those of us who spend time on the real Great Lakes sneer at your pool little Tahoe, which doesn’t even appear on Wikipedia’s list of the world’s 37 largest lakes.
Since we’re talking volume, it squeaks in at #27.
Tahoe: 36 cubic miles of water.
Superior: 2,800 cubic miles of water.
Clearly, one of them is Superior…
I haven’t ever been to Baikal, but it is on my bucket list… to drain with a bucket! But seriously, every picture I have ever seen of it is spectacular. Tahoe is pretty, near me and wonderful. Poor Fredo.
The interesting bit here is that California has a water shortage. Problem, meet apparent solution.
Pipeline from great lakes -> LA, unlimited water.
Although, one issue that might arise long term is I assume the great lakes fill at some rate that is relatively slow compared to what LA and other california cities can consume, especially if there was no cap on their consumption. A shrinking great lake waterline could have consequences.
Both Tahoe and the Great Lakes already are in danger of having their shorelines lowered due to human water consumption. This isn’t a problem solved, using those sources more would multiply the problems. Within a small water level, these lakes are huge reservoirs, but overuse and poor use methods threaten ecological disasters.
Every now and then this idea pops up on the SDMB, and the Dopers have great fun pointing out how ridiculous it is for legal, political, and engineering reasons. See here and here, for example.
What? No “ski lift up Everest”? Your slipping, man.
Well, say you took a huge cup, extracted all the water and poured it over California, how much would just drain back into Lake Tahoe before you finished pouring?
It would be interesting to see footage of the exploration.
I think one of the reasons I like scuba diving [other than it is like flying, and I don’t need crutches or a wheelchair] is getting to see things that you normally don’t see. Underwater sightseeing is great, and places like the Flower Garden are amazing.
Tahoe’s a whole lot higher than the rest of California, and the watershed that drains into the lake is actually pretty small. The state is about 163,700 square miles, and the Tahoe watershed is 505 square miles (and roughly a third of that is in Nevada). If you’re pouring the entire volume of the lake evenly over the whole state, about 0.2% of the water (~250,000 acre feet, or 81 billion gallons) would end up back in the lake.
This thread has blown my mind. I had no idea there was that much water in Lake Tahoe. Thanks - ignorance fought.
Well, there is also enough fish piss in Tahoe to drown a Canadian Senator.
Or any other legislator you care to name, I should think.
Prehistoric Piranha! Please, Please, Please, find some Prehistoric Piranha!
And in order to visualize the spread of water from lake Tahoe, take a small cup of water and tip it over on your desk and be amazed a how much area it covers. I am every time I spill my coffee.
There is a video that came out a while ago with lots of underwater footage of Tahoe and some interesting features. Some little fly-by-night video company, but it was pretty cool.
As soon as my boss is done chewing me out for browsing the dope at work, she’d like a word with you. :smack:
More trivia, The water in Lake Tahoe is so clear that Buster Keaton filmed some underwater scenes there. It did not matter how cold it was, Keaton decided the scenes were important for his movie The Navigator.
http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article.html?isPreview=&id=443505|92536&name=The-Navigator
And that was done in 1924!
They had bourbon in 1924?