What will happen to the Colorado River?

The future of the Colorado River is tentative. The damage that has been done already is irreversible—the lines of where the water used to be are far above where the water is now. There hasn’t been sufficient regulation on water use, and the river will dry up in the next 50 years due to population growth and consumption, and inevitable climate change. If the river is not protected or used thoughtfully, it will not be there to support later generations. The U.S. and Mexico are starting to realize the dire situation, and there is a lot of pressure to conserve the river, and hopefully legislation will be passed soon.

There needs to be an overhaul, not a site-specific change in the Colorado River. Many dams, specifically the Windy Gap dam, need to be taken down or updated so that they do not completely remove the water from the rivers. If this happens, the natural flow of the river will be restored, sediment will be flushed out, and the Mexican delta can be reached. Fish and natural resource monitoring needs to be heightened, so that we can take the steps necessary to save what is in trouble.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278434399000308

 The graph details the amount of water crossing the U.S.-Mexican border

Resources

1. Conan, Neal. "As Colorado River Dries Up, The West Feels The Pain." Web. http://www.wbur.org/npr/155777834/as-colorado-river-dries-up-the-west-feels-the-pain

2. DiDonato, Guy. "Big Dams and Park Resources: Water Management in the Colorado River Basin." Web.

http://www.georgewright.org/1114didonato.pdf

3. McPherson, Robert. "Colorado River." Web. http://historytogo.utah.gov/utah_chapters/the_land/coloradoriver.html

4. Youngs, Yolonda. "Colorado River." Web.     http://grandcanyonhistory.clas.asu.edu/history_coloradoriver.html

5. http://www.defendthecolorado.org/solutions