Water Supply In The Colorado River

Water scarcity is increasing worldwide and dramatically affecting first world nations such as Spain, Australia, and the United States. All nations are now starting to recognize that the world's water is a finite resource, and that resource is being drastically altered in both availability and quality by development, climate change and population growth. In the United States, the Colorado River is experiencing rapid declines in volume. Recent studies and data suggest that the changes in frequency, intensity, and timing of the availability of water will have substantial impact on the way we live our lives in the 21st century and beyond. As Letmathe Brakeck said, “I am confident that, under present

The upper basin states (including Colorado) were allocated a much greater percentage of the water than the lower basin states, while the upper basin states were developing at a much slower rate than those in the lower basin, notably California. Nevada (as of 1997) anticipated being unable to rely just on this water by 2015, while in 1997 California was already exceeding its originally allocated supply by diverting unused water from the upper basin states (Arizona.edu, 1997). It goes without saying that this legislation from the early twentieth century is not going to be sufficient in coming years as the development of these regions has progressed at a much faster rate than originally anticipated, and it is the responsibility of state and federal governments, water management companies, as well as appeals from farmers and non-farming residents alike to come to an agreement on how to apportion water and how to implement secondary hydration plans due to the rapidly declining resource that the once-magnificent Colorado River was able to supply us

One of the largest geographic physical structures in the United States is the Colorado River. Human activity and its interaction with this great river have an interesting history. The resources provided by the river have been used by humans, and caused conflict for human populations as well. One of these conflicts is water distribution, and the effects drought conditions have played in this distribution throughout the southwestern region. Major cities such as Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego, and other communities in the southwest depend on the river. It provides water for over 20 million people, irrigation for 2 million acres of land, four thousand megawatts of hydroelectric energy, and over twenty million annual visitors for

Warmer temperatures in Arizona in river has been leading to more evaporation. The water that is being used by plants and soil experience evapotranspiration which has accounted for a loss of at least half-million acre-feet of water annually.

The Colorado River Basin starts in the Rocky Mountains and cuts through 1500 miles of canyon lands and deserts of seven US states and two Mexican states to supply a collection of dams and reservoirs with water to help irrigate cropland, support 40 million people, and provide hydroelectric power for the inland western United States [1,2]. From early settlement, rights over the river have been debated and reassigned to different states in the upper and lower basin; however, all the distribution patterns lead to excessive consumption of the resource. In 1922, the seven US states signed into the Colorado River Compact, which outlined the policy for the distribution rights to the water [3], however, this compact was written during an exceptionally

The Earth is a huge planet this is covered by 70 percent water. Astonishingly from this 70 percent the human population can only use 1 percent of the world’s water the rest of it is salt water, frozen, or in some way unattainable (Santa Clara Valley Water District, 2016). Humans have found many different ways to obtain this 1 percent of fresh water they need, but the techniques vary depending on location. In San Jose, California we obtain our water from 3 major sources: groundwater, imported surface water, and local mountain surface water. These 3 sources contribute different amounts of water to the San Jose community. Imported surface water composes about 50 percent of our water supply, while ground water composes roughly 40 percent, and local mountain surface water composes approximately 10 percent (Santa Jose Water Company, 2016). However, these percentages can change due to factors such as weather and global warming.

“Change in the timing and amount of stream flows and spring and seep discharges will affect a wide range of wildlife species, livestock, and wild horses and burros. Water availability from these sources could dry up earlier in the summer as a result of the early melt of the snowpack causing increased competition for water and forage across the landscape. Pipelines and troughs installed by BLM and livestock permits that provide water for livestock, wild horses, and wildlife species over tens of millions of acres may have a reduced capacity to meet these needs” (Pellant). “The Great Basin Desert is home to more than 77,000 mountainous acres of land, 5 distinctive habitats, 71 different kinds of mammals, 18 types of reptiles, and 800 different plant species” (Grange). With all this changing it will be difficult for the desert’s water to meet animal and nature’s needs for life. One animal this has an effect on is the Bull Trout an endangered fish and facing extinction in this desert

The Colorado River compact has been the most beneficial project for the seven states that share it. The river has 29 dams that serve different purposes together with hundreds of miles of canals. Many farmers have been known to divert the river into their own farms to be used for irrigation. Irrigated land accounts for four million acres of the total land use. This relates to a large percentage of water used for agriculture. The products got from constant irrigation are a major economic boost to both the farmers and the United States. This also enhances living standards due to income earned by such farmers (Michael, 2010). This has enabled them to feed not only their states, but also the other neighboring countries through

In his book, Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water, Marc Reisner’s main thesis is to show the inefficiency, greed, and inherent difficulty in the American West’s never-ending struggle to turn its unwelcoming desert into a lush garden. One of his main sub-points is that the West is not meant to support millions of people. It has a wide range of geographic challenges throughout the entire region. Its inconsistency and diversity is a primary cause of its water problems. For example, Reisner notes that the West consists of “plains so arid that they could barely support bunchgrass; deserts that were fiercely hot and fiercely cold; streams that flooded a few weeks each year and went dry the rest; forests with trees so large it might take days to bring one down; . . . hail followed by drought followed by hail;” (23).

Texas, with its abundances of natural resources, is facing a new demon, one that doesn’t even seem possible, a shortage of water. Water, without it nothing can survive. Texas is the second largest state for landmass in the nation and ninth for water square miles. Within the borders of Texas are more than 100 lakes, 14 major rivers, and 23 aquifers, so why has water become such an important issue for the state? Politicians and conservationists all agree that without a new working water plan, the state could be facing one of the most damaging environmental disasters they have ever seen. The issues that shape the states positions are population growth, current drought conditions, and who actually owns the water.

Now Arizona is not the typical state that has a lot of precipitation and rain yearly, but it depends off other reservoirs, lakes, and rivers located in other states to for their water supply. After searching and conducting research, it was found that the main impact Arizona is suffering from the drought is decreasing water levels is from Lake Mead (located in Nevada), and the Colorado River, which flows North to South through several U.S. states. Research and data found shows that the Bureau of Reclamation releases water into the Colorado River below Lake Mead to meet water demands of downstream users in Arizona and California, and also to satisfy treaty obligations to the Republic of Mexico. Findings by the Bureau of Reclamation show that Lake Mead water level’s peaked at 1,214.26 in January of 2000. Almost a decade and a half later, recorded in January 2014, the water levels of Lake Mead are now 1,108.75 (Smith, 2014). This findings show that Arizona is continually getting a decline in water from Lake Mead every month that passes, affects thousands of residents living in Arizona, which already lacks water to begin with. If this continues, this can cause many civilians to both stand by and bare the drought as long as they can, or decide to move out of Arizona to states with a better water supply, so they won’t be burdened with the continual burden of having to ration and conserve water. The state has

The dust settled as the last vehicle departed the newly established ghost town. What was once a bustling rural community in eastern Colorado, complete with a school and church, and businesses off the main street, has become deserted due to a lack of water. This has become an all too familiar scene in rural communities across Colorado as the increasing demand for water and the dwindling water supply pits water users against one another. The state’s free market style of appropriating water, known as prior appropriation, allows for this highly competitive, and often detrimental situation to persist. As climate change and population growth continue to strain the water supply in Colorado, it will be necessary to adjust the strict prior appropriation

I believe that this is also going to be a problem in the future. The greenhouse gasses are raising the temperatures of our atmosphere. The Colorado river is 19 percent below averages century. I agree that the rainfall will affect the rivers droughts. Scientist our continuing to make predictions on what the river will be like years from now. We are the ones who controls this problem. This river supplies water for 40 million people if it dries up that is more water we have to find to supply for 40 million people. I agree that if we don't fix this drought there will be a huge problem. There has been a lot of rainfall recently and I think that could potentially help the river with its drought. These states are some of the hottest states in the

Even though the dams provide immense water storage at a cost of the Colorado River ecosystem, the thirst of the southwest continues to increase. Conservation will help to slow the thirst, but the ever increasing demanded requires more water in the system. The three fastest-growing US states (Nevada, Arizona and Utah) are located within the Colorado River basin and all seven states within the basin outpace the national average. Four of the ten fastest growing metro areas: St. George and Provo in Utah, Las Vegas in Nevada and Greenly in Colorado.

When referring to Arizona’s water Kris Mayes, chairwoman of the state’s utility regulatory panel once said, “How do you say just how valuable water is in an arid state like Arizona?” she said. “It’s like the credit-card commercial-it’s priceless” (McKinnon). She was right, because in a dry state like Arizona, water is pretty important. To say water is ‘pretty important’ for the world is an understatement. We use water to function. And when we think of water we think of saving it. Keep the faucets from dripping or turn off the water while brushing your teeth. There are numerous tips for water conservation, but people don’t often think of the damage that is already done. Damages like ‘dead zones’. Dead zones in the ocean have been around for