Eli5… Can hurricane Hillary be a good thing for AZ and NV with all that water?
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It can fill reservoirs, of course, but the real problem is the ground in desert areas tends to be hard and not very absorbent. This means the water will flow off without much absorption, especially when it come so fast. The water will rush into arroyos, creek beds, and other low spots, and eventually into the rivers. There could be massive erosion and damage to bridges, roads, and homes.
The basic short answer is too much water in too short of a time can be very dangerous.
It will help a little bit but the water will come down so much that it will cause flooding. This is because places that are dry can’t absorb water as fast as places with lots of plants and trees. The water will be helpful but the help might be balanced with danger.
It won’t help fill aquifers above what they are, which is still full from the storms this winter.
This storm can help put out a bunch of smaller fires that are burning in the south of California and through Nevada and Arizona.
The Great Basin occasionally gets monsoon like rains. The landscape/ecosystem know how to recover. The real question is how well we understand the area in this sense and how human interests will be affected.
If they can find a place to put it.
Having enough water isn’t really about digging e big enough hole to store it in, it’s about having a healthy weather cycle that stores water in snow and then delivers it in rivers as it melts. Any time the population grows outside of the weather cycle’s ability to provide things go bad. Unfortunately we can’t reservoir our way out of a drought, it’s at best a temporary solution.
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