200 years after humans

Did you know, that the Hoover Dam, initially called "Boulder Dam" (because of the initial scouted location, and the town which surrounds it) will probably be the last man made object to stand?
It would also power most of the southwest region of the United States for up to fifty years after man is gone.

Hoover Dam was essentially engineered and built to sustain itself. The only reasons there is a need for people to work at the dam is to make sure all of the parts are oiled. Also, to remove muscles from the filters below the water level. The filters allow water to flow through the dam at a controlled level.

So when man is gone, the first thing to happen would be that the filters would be clogged with the quagga mussels. This would take about five years for the water to start to back up and eventually start to "overflow". But the designers of the dam were prepared for that, so they built two large spill tanks, one on either side, which by design would still regulate flow to the Colorado River.

The dam was so built that it would never over flow, even in the case of flood conditions.

Inside the dam, are giant generators, which are the sole reason the south western hemisphere get power. The generators, essentially run by themselves. The only thing employees of the Dam need to do to keep them running is lubricate the things that need lubing. When man leaves this earth they would not start to rust and stop working for about 25 to 50 years. Leaving this area of the country with power.

I'm not entirely sure, in the process of watching these videos and doing a little bit of research, what the ending point was... I believe at some point it came down to the dam just crumbling down.

I am so fascinated by the hoover dam, and while we visited a few months ago, I am just now getting to post about it.

The thing about the Hoover Dam is simply that it was initially created to control the Colorado river, because it was wild and unruly and unpredictable. More often than not, farms and homes in the south west would be promised water but then dry up come the spring time, and come the rainy season, so many properties would be destroyed.

The Colorado, once was a source of water for so parts of the south west, going all the way down to Mexico. Back before the dam was built, the water near the dam was about 300 feet higher, and it continues to decline every year. Where it once reached Mexico, it doesn't any more, depriving a large population of people (who naturally lived in those areas before we had ever even heard of the south west!) of their God given water source. And some would like to say that is evenly divided. But again because of the regulations that the initial designers put in place the amount of water being divided is vastly unequal.

It also makes me think of how man really wasn't meant to be in these parts of the country the way we are. When people came to the Las Vegas, Southern Nevada area, people were naturally turned away by the harsh conditions, we were maybe not conditioned for, coming from the humid east. But Americans have always had a desire to conquer and control the unknown... (refer to the American Indian slaugter) And I believe it strongly relates to our desire to have more, want more, control more.

We are also, out here in the South West, in a severe drought. California is practically out of water and seeks out water from Southern Nevada and Parts of Arizona and Utah. Thats so little water for so many people!

There really isn't a good way to wrap it up except for my though that hoover dam, while it fascinates me so much, it also frustrates me to no end.