Human Impact

The human impact is ugly. The river provides water for more than 30 million people, and irrigation for 3.5 million acres of crops. People in the U.S. and Mexico are both using up more water than is sustainable, even after the Colorado River Compact, which was a state treaty limiting the amount of water use. The river is so dammed, diverted and overused, that it dries up before it reaches the delta. Many species, especially fish species, in the Colorado River are on the brink of extinction (due to dams interrupting the flow of nutrients and water temperature), and invasive species are coming in more. Mineral resources are also being explored, leading to more disruption in the river. The Colorado River doesn’t have any specific areas with protection. Although there are national parks, the operation of dams still degrade even those. 

Conservation status of fish species in the Colorado River:

FE = Federally Endangered

FT = Federally Threatened

SE = State Endangered

ST = State Threatened

SC = State Special Concern

http://wildlife.state.co.us/WildlifeSpecies/SpeciesOfConcern/ThreatenedEndangeredList/Pages/ListOfThreatenedAndEndangeredSpecies.aspx