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The Colorado River Water Rights & Use

The Colorado River Water Rights & Use. Abby Needell & Caroline Nifong February 19, 2014. Background Information. -Supplies water for nearly 30 million people. -Located in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. -Traps over 10 million metric tons of silt each year.

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The Colorado River Water Rights & Use

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  1. The Colorado River Water Rights & Use Abby Needell & Caroline Nifong February 19, 2014

  2. Background Information -Supplies water for nearly 30 million people. -Located in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. -Traps over 10 million metric tons of silt each year. -Has 14 major dams and reservoirs, hundreds of smaller dams, canals, and aqueducts that supply water for irrigation, electricity, and recreation. -Without the river Las Vegas, Nevada would be a uninhabited desert, San Diego, California could not support its population, and California’s Imperial Valley would have mostly cactus rather than the huge amount of vegetables it produces now. -Divided into the upper basin and the lower basin.

  3. Location -The mouth of the Colorado River is the Gulf of California, Mexico. -Begins at La Poudre Pass Lake in Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park. -1,400 miles from the Rocky Mountain headwaters to the Gulf of California. -Flows through Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Baja California, and Sonora. -The Upper Basin includes Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. -The Lower Basin includes California, Arizona, and Nevada.

  4. Date -The Colorado River Compact was signed in 1922. -Provided equal use of the Colorado River to the states. -Thought it would help secure agricultural land, prevent floods, and increase interstate comity. -There have been several other treaties, such as the 1944 US-Mexico Treaty, that allocated more water to the states. -The dispute about the Colorado River rights is ongoing.

  5. What part of the environment is affected? • The plants and animals in and around the river -The downstream plants and animals receive much fewer nutrients. Those who rely on other organisms to survive will eventually die off and negatively affect the food web. -There are about 1400 species of vegetation in the ecosystem around the river. • The river itself and the area around it -There is a risk of flooding in the upper basin which would displace and harm many organisms. -The lower basin is being dried out. There is very little water flow to the Gulf of California anymore, and lots of the water that does reach is not useable. • Farmlands below the dam have fewer nutrients. -Salinization has made millions of acres of valuable farmland useless.

  6. How is the environment affected? -Many nutrients are not passed downstream which decreases plant and animal life. -Salinity levels are significantly increased which eventually results in salinization and also decreases plant and animal life. Humans make many contributions to this. Overuse withdraws the water, which increases the salinity levels. -One major invasive species is the Tamarisk. It crowds normal vegetation and consumes extremely large amounts of water. The environment is threatened by: • Human overuse • Poor river management technique • Agriculture overdraw • Increased salinity • Invasive species -Water volume below the dam is significantly lower which can cause higher water temperatures, lower dissolved oxygen levels, stagnation, and disrupted plant and animal life.

  7. What are the two sides of the issue? There are numerous legal battles over how much of the limited water should be withdrawn and used by cities, ranchers, farmers, and Native Americans. Environmentalists believe the river should be preserved and have some of the previously existing dams removed and stop building as many large dams. Farmers and cities want to use as much of the river water as possible for economic gain.

  8. What is the projected future outcome? -Reduced natural flow -Over the next 50 years it is predicted that droughts lasting at least 5 years will occur over half the time. -Some believe there will be a 39% decrease in flows by 2050. -Extinction of native species -Invasive species and lack of nutrients downstream will lead to this. -Greater flood risk -The water in the upper basin will build up and add pressure. -In 2060 the supply and demand is projected to be about 3.2 million acre-feet. -There could be enough water to support urban growth by the river in 2020 if irrigation efficiency is improved 10-15%.

  9. Works Cited http://geography.about.com/od/unitedstatesofamerica/a/colorado-river.htm Briney, Amanda. "Geography of the Colorado River." About.com Geography. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2014. http://web.mit.edu/12.000/www/m2012/finalwebsite/problem/coloradoriver.shtml “Colorado River.” Mission 2012 : Clean Water . Massachusetts Institute of Technology, n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2014 www.azwater.gov/azdwr/Arizona_Mexico_Water/Meetings/2007-11-15_CommitteeMtgCObregonPlenary/Presentations/ColoradoEcosystemAssessment_Murrieta_Nov07.ppt Lellouch, Mark, Karen Hyun, and Sylvia Tognetti. "Lower Colorado River Basin Ecosystem Assessment." Sonoran Institute. Island Press, 7 Nov. 2011. Web. 15 Feb. 2014

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