The Colorado River: Lifeblood of the American Southwest

As a doctoral candidate studying water resources conflicts in the Colorado River basin, I have come to appreciate the intricately interwoven social, political, ecological and geographical networks present here. The Colorado River basin covers portions of seven U.S. states, and parts of northwestern Mexico. Once a wild and silt laden river, the Colorado is now, for the most part, controlled by humans through the use of dams, reservoirs and diversions. The Colorado River continues to carve the Grand Canyon, while endangered fish inhabit, for now at least, its cutting waters. Although it is a powerful force of erosion, it seldom reaches its destination in the Pacific Ocean. Urban centers from Denver, Colorado to Los Angeles, California receive life sustaining water from this river. These same cities and towns are powered by electricity generated by turbines in the great dams of the basin. When not leasing their water rights to conservation initiatives and municipalities, farmers utilize Colorado River water to irrigate crops. Increasingly, kayakers, rafters and canoeists seek to preserve instream flows for their water sports. Additionally, Native Americans are finally receiving the water promised to them in 19^th century treaties. As you can see, the Colorado River provides a lot of services, not all of which are complimentary to each other. The crux of the matter is the conflict between human uses and ecological services. This article provides an introductory overview to these issues surrounding the waters of the Colorado River. Hopefully, you will gain a greater appreciation for the Colorado, and a better understanding of the issues surrounding freshwater in the 21^st century.

Human Use

The Colorado River, sometimes called the Paper River because of all the compacts and laws governing it, has more rights assigned to it than there is water to satisfy these rights. This over allocation of water is the result of a compact signed between the basin states, which divided the river and laid the groundwork for its development. Dams, reservoirs, canals, ditches and pipelines transport the Colorado River all over the American Southwest. These massive public works projects were designed to make the desert landscape more habitable for Americans by providing power, irrigation and drinking water.

Today, irrigated agriculture is on the decline in the basin, as these water rights are being leased for drinking water and providing habitat for fish. The iconic hydroelectric dams, reservoirs and diversions of the basin are also being managed differently, in order to maintain adequate aquatic habitat. Those who ride the water, such as canoeists, also want to maintain instream flows. There is a growing understanding of ecology here, and humans are working to use the Colorado sustainably, while seeking to maintain a decent standard of living.

Endangered Species

There are four endangered species of fish in the Colorado River: the bonytail, Colorado pikeminnow, humpback chub and razorback sucker. These fish exist nowhere else on the planet, as they evolved here. In the 1940s and 1950s, these fish were viewed as undesirable. They were targeted for poisoning, in order to repopulate portions of the river with trout and other sport fish. Additionally, the public works projects altered the river substantially, and decreased the amount of suitable habitat available for these native species. The growing understanding of community ecology, the study of the interdependence of different species of plants and animals, is changing the way these fish are viewed.

The Future

The Colorado River is the perfect natural laboratory for scientists and policy makers to learn from our past mistakes, and find a way to live sustainably in a fragile desert ecosystem. What we learn about maintaining a balance between ecological and economic sustainability in the Colorado River basin could help others around the world to better utilize scarce freshwater resources.