by: Brendan Browne
The Colorado is a vital resource to millions of Americans. Human influence, however, is slowly destroying this ecosystem. Little to no water is allocated to Mexico, although the river runs hundreds of miles along its borders. Areas downstream are completely dried up, and in some areas these dry river beds have already been developed. As an environmentalist, I would like to see the area restored to its original state. I realize that this is a huge task, but we can certainly start to reverse our negative impacts.
Dams along the river create a huge problem. They not only block sediment flow, but some of them do not allow fish to swim through and the unnatural flows of water are washing away the beaches that attract so many tourists. The dams are already implemented, but there could be modifications made to them that allow fish to swim upstream as they naturally want to. The government could also coordinate and regulate the flow of water allowed by dams down the river. This would cut down on erosion of the banks and maintain the successful tourism industry in the area. It could also help the populations of the four endangered fish species in the area. If one of those species were to go extinct, it could have devastating effects on the health of the river ecosystem.
Although the Colorado River acts as a border between Mexico and the U.S., very little of the water is given to communities along the river on the Mexican side. The areas near the delta where the water should flow into the Gulf of Mexico are dried up completely. If every Colorado River water rights owner in the U.S. was forced by government action to give up a small percent of this water, we can slowly start to bring life back to the areas downstream. It could also potentially strengthen ties with the Mexican government.
11 comments:
Dams are interesting because they rarely if ever have benefits outweighing the costs. They are insanely expensive to build and produce little hydroelectric power and cause many environmental problems. I was unaware that the US was withholding water from Mexico. Water rights are interesting, controversial, and could possibly lead to many issues/strife in the near future as we deplete our fresh water resources in the west.
One of the main consequences of the lack of fresh water making it's way into the Gulf of California, is the destruction of the Vacquita, a small porpoise that used to frequent the area where the fresh water comes in during the early stages of their reproduction cycle. Due to a lack of fresh water, the Vacquita was overfished because of their inability to reproduce at normal rates. There are many consequences of taking away fresh water resources from local habitats and ecosystems.
Well then where is the water going? Isn't it being used for something good like farming and drinking water. And if so where would we get the water to make the Colorado river return to normal?
yes, part of it is use for agriculture, but there is a problem with that The pesticides and other pollutants goes back into water which is creating other problems.
The Colorado River which flows an amazing 2,330 km through Colorado, Utah, Arizona, California and finally into Mexico has ben a very valuable water source for many, many years. However, like many of our world's natural resources, we have taken too much advantage of the river depleting it of it's once rich value to us. The river was first utilized as an important irrigation source, however, later many damns were set up along the river. Together these things strongly exhaust the river and has over the past decades completely dried it up in the lower sections near Mexico.
Due to increased evaporation of water from warmer temperatures of global warming and greater demand for water for drinking, agriculture, plumbing, etc.. by growing population, water sources on our earth are disappearing quickly. For this reason we as a world need to do everything to conserve our precious water sources so that they may last long into the future. We can start with the Colorado River as a model. By reducing the amount of damns on this river and developing irrigation systems in the most resourceful way, it is possible to help bring back to health the river slowly. Following this example to cure other shriveled up rivers across the world as well. We just can't continue to use our natural resources for all their worth, for each one is very important to us, as they all function together to create the habitable and beautiful world we all need and dream to live in.
Hmm this seems both unfair to Mexicans and detrimental to the environment. I agree that dams are rarely as beneficial as they are made out to be in initial plans. Water rights can be very tricky but I hope that owners of these rights realize how it would benefit both themselves and others if they were willing to let some of the water flow back into the delta.
Hopefully people will smarten up and realize that they should be cooperating with this. It is extremely consequential to be taking fresh water from the ecosystems where it belongs.
This hits close to home because i'm from Austin, Texas which sits right near the end of the Colorado river. In high school i did a science fair project (dont judge) that tested the river's water. The amount of phosphorus and nitrates from pesticides coming from up the river is disgusting. We actually do not use water from the colorado river because of this, and luckily we sit on top of a huge aquifer. But for those further down stream, there is little water and that water is polluted but also because it remains stagnant for a while until more water is added which just intensifies the disgustingness.
Many problems arise in this issue. Firstly, when water rights were originally allocated, it was based on numbers from a more wet year then normally. This means more water is allocated then flows in the river.
Secondly, with the introduction of multiple hydroelectric dams along the river, the river has changed fundamentally. Before the dam, the water was warmer, cloudier, and routinely flooded. Now, the water runs, clear, cold, and never floods. As long as the dams exist, the river will never be as it was naturally.
Poor Poor Mexico. they deserve more water than they actually get. Have they done anything to try and get more water from the Colorado river. Or is it a lost cause with greedy America??
The lack of water in the Colorado River is also affected by the tamarisk tree. One acre of adult tamarisks can drink almost one million gallons of water in just a year.
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