Colorado Water History Paper

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

Conflict can also occur within a country, for example the states situated within the Colorado river basin have been constantly squabbling over who owns the water supply and who should be allocated the most water. In the 1920s the ‘Law of the River’ established the division of water amongst the upper basin states, it also defined their responsibility to supply water to the lower basin states. This division had been based on an estimated annual flow of 21 billion m3/yr in 1920, however this was a time of above normal flows, recent studies have indicated that long term average flows are around 18 billion m3/yr. The deficit between the flow and the allocation has become more apparent as the population in the clorado basin states continues to rise. As a result of this deficit tensions are rising between the states, California receives a large percentage of the water as a result of its large population and political power even though the river does not directly flow through it. This has heightened tensions with the states

“The lands on either side of the mountain front, however, experience a water deficit. The people living in these areas have looked to water-storage projects in the Rockies for irrigation domestic and industrial use, navigation, and hydroelectric power generation, as well as for flood control. Most of the potential site for large dams already have been utilized, and smaller dams in the headwater regions are now being constructed (Rocky Mountains).”

The State of Colorado has suffered from a water shortage in recent years; a difficult situation which is easily visible when viewing the quickly shortening length of the Colorado River. Lake Mead, for example, is roughly 130 feet lower than it once was, marked by the stained rock which towers above the current water level. “The river has become a perfect symbol of what happens when we ask too much of a limited resource: it disappears. In fact, the Colorado no longer regularly reaches the sea” (Zielinski, 2010). Legislation was implemented early on to address this issue, though the results were (perhaps not surprisingly) rather unanticipated, regarding

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

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 continued lack of a settlement can be attributed to the conflicting priorities of the various constituencies who use the resource – water is used for consumption, waste disposal, crop irrigation, power generation, industry, recreation, wildlife protection and navigation. In the very near future, there simply won’t be enough Fig. 1. Area for Tri-State Water Compacts

The controversy over water rights has been a long battle that the Navajo Nation has endured for decades. This controversy which is complicated by numerous issues has only been increasing in recent years. For example the Navajo Hopi Little Colorado Water Settlement that has been in litigation for 33 years. Of particular note Navajo people and their elected officials are struggling to balance expectations with reality including legally mandated coordination with state and federal governments. As a result there has been notable conflict in resources associated with water management. These fundamental issues have been exasperated by a host of concerns: (1) deceased water availability due to drought or water development; (2) long

California has always had a warm climate, yet its supply of water has rarely been affected. In 2014 California’s water shortage issue truly began. Due to low amounts of snow in the winter in recent years, California has tried to equal out these shortages by drilling water from underground aquifers. Yet, underground aquifers recharge much slower than surface water sources. California has already made significant drawbacks to attempt to limit the amount of water they use, so these aquifers can recharge. But still resources continue going down and the Central Valley Aquifer’s water level is rapidly declining. Luckily, on April 7, 2017 the drought stage of emergency in California was ended. Yet the issue isn’t truly resolved. Glen MacDonald

The Red River Compact Commission was created and signed by 1978 by 4 states Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana. The Red River, the northern boundary of a lot of the state, is a major water source for all four of these states and was being fought over until this commission was made to help solve many of the disputes that could come up. Similarly, Texas has more agreements with other states including the Sabine River Compact Commission and the Rio Grande Compact. These commission serves the same purpose as the other commission, to make sure that all states receive the correct amount of water and that neither state ruins the water for any other one. The United States has an agreement with Mexico regarding the Colorado River that helps decide what should be done with a river that gives water to more than 33 million people across the two nations. The agreement is made to help the Colorado River make it back to the Ocean which will in turn help refill Lake Mead, the main source of water for the city of Los Vegas. The major treaty between the US and Mexico that Texas has a large hand in is the Treaty of February 3, 1994. This treaty restricts the water that the other country can take from the Rio Grande river, and guarantees the US one-third of the water from 5 tributaries in Mexico, and guarantees Mexico all of the water from two other tributaries. This treaty also allows both nations to dam parts of this

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.

For example, it would lessen the droughts because not so many people are using the water from the Colorado River, and if all seven states have the rights of the Colorado River the drought might get so bad, that the river might eventually dry up.

Many problems arise do to the Rio Grande between governments especially, between El Paso and Ciudad Juarez. Although there have been several treaties concerning this river, one government is never happy and always wants a bigger part of the river. Both governments believe the river only belongs to one country, that is because they are greedy and just do not want to share the water when they believe they should be the owner of all the river. For example, in El Paso and Juarez the water should be split in half, but instead El Paso takes nearly all of the water. Before, Juarez would get most of the water even though El Paso did get a great quantity. A few years back El Paso decided to construct a path that would lead all the water to

Prior to settlement of the western United States, the Colorado River roamed free. Starting from cool mountain streams, the river eventually became a thunderous, silty force of nature as it entered the canyons along its path. The river nourished wetlands and other riparian habitats from the headwaters in the Rocky Mountains to the delta at the Sea of Cortez in Northwest Mexico. Settlers along the river harnessed these waters mainly for agriculture via irrigation canals, but flooding from spring runoff wreaked havoc on agricultural land, prevented development in the floodplain and full utilization of the water, a waste in the eyes of western farmers. In order to meet current and future water demands in the west, the Federal Government

In the American West; there is a constant battle about where the water rights should be used, agriculturally or