# 1 Most Endangered River in U.S. "Colorado"

The Colorado is a winding resource of beauty and age. 

All reservoirs along the Colorado River might dry up by mid-century as the West warms, a new study finds. The probability of such a severe shortage by then runs as high as one-in-two, unless current water-management practices change, the researchers report. Even under the harshest drying caused by climate change, the large storage capacity of reservoirs on the Colorado might help sustain water supply for a few decades.The Colorado River system is enduring its 10th year of a drought. Fortunately, the river system entered the drought in 2000, with the reservoirs at approximately 95 percent of capacity. The reservoir system is currently at 59 percent of capacity. Roughly 30 million people depend on the Colorado River for drinking and irrigation water. To the right is one of the depleting areas. Between 2026 and 2057, the risks of fully depleting reservoir storage will increase seven-fold under the current management practices when compared with risks expected from population pressures alone. Implementing more aggressive management practices - in which downstream releases are reduced during periods of reservoir shortages - could lead to only a two-fold increase in risk of depleting all reservoir storage during this period, according to the study.

This is an actual  picture from part of the Colorado River

Is this the future of its entire environment?

                                                                                           

This Video is Shocking Evidence

Lake Mead is the largest reservoir in the United States.. It is 24 miles from Las Vegas Nevada and extends into Arizona  It was created by Hoover Dam and supplies water to that desert region. Lake Mead is 112 miles long when the lake is full, has 550 miles of shoreline, is around 500 feet at greatest depth, has 247 square miles  of surface, and when filled to capacity, 28 million acre-feet of water. However, the lake has not reached this capacity in more than decade, due to increasing droughts.

Lake Mead draws a majority of its water from snow melt in the Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah Rocky Mountains. Since 2000 the water level has been dropping at a fairly steady rate due to less than average snowfall. Marinas and boat launch ramps have been moved to another part of the lake or have closed down completely. It irrigates about a million acres of farmland in the United States, much of it in southern California’s Imperial Valley, and another half million acres in northern Mexico as part of international water agreements. The water released through the dam can be used to generate electricity for about 500,000 homes and to lift water up over the Sierra Nevada Mountains to irrigate southern California, but power generation is secondary to agricultural and municipal water demands in places like southern California, central Arizona, and southern Nevada.

The Worst Case of Water Depletion Has Already Happened

The Aral Sea was once the fourth largest sea in the world. A once-large saltwater lake straddling the boundary between Kazakhstan to the north and Uzbekistan to the south was considered an oasis. Now It is barren and the ground is polluted with toxic chemical and the scant water that is left is thick with salt.

Before 1960 and Now


TODAY

This region had 500 species of birds, 200 species of mammals, and 100 species of fish before the Soviet Union started diverting the water to irrigate crops, mostly cotton. Cotton was considered "White Gold" for the Soviets, but in just 40 years, starting in 1960, this white gold has destroyed the environment, animals, and the lives of human beings. It is at 1/4 of its original size today.

IS IT WORTH IT?

Blue Gold Means Big Business and Big Trouble

Water is now being called "Blue Gold" because the amount of money that can be made on water resources are astronomical. Think about the amount of money Americans spend on 20 ounces of water, one bottle cost any where from $1.00 to $6.00 for top line brands. As water becomes more depleted we will pay more and not just for bottled water, but every drop we use in any way. All this means that big business will eventually control all our water. Privatization of our most precious resource will be abundant for the wealthy and scarce for the multitudes.

Look at the Danger of Our Own Water Suppy

1. 

   
   Approximately 95 percent of the water pumped from the Ogallala is for irrigation. The High Plains area represents 65 percent of the total irrigated acreage in the United States. The quality of the water pumped from the aquifer is suitable for irrigating; but in some places, the water does not meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) drinking water quality standards. For example, some constituents identified above EPA standards include sulfate, chloride, selenium, fluoride, nitrate, and total dissolved solids.
   
   
   "The Ogallala is a designated ground water basin. It is designated by LAW to be non-tributary to surface streams and has been also determined to be non-rechargeable.
   
   The Ogallala is mined knowing that it has a predetermined life of a hundred years. Withdrawals from the Ogallala are allowed based on the number of acres owned overlying the aquifer. A calculation is deliberately made using the total number of acres, volume in the Ogallala and dividing by 100 to get the amount allowed per acre above the Ogallala to be withdrawn/allowed each year.
   
   When the Ogallala is gone, & its gone & and those who have depended upon it will be high and dry & hard to believe that those affected have not known this for years ( and they do) & their permitting process spells out the calculations and credits & for as long as the water lasts.
   
   Maybe someday, California & Nevada in particular will come to realize the significance of a non-tributary Source of fresh water that can yield a million acre feet of water EACH YEAR which cannot be depleted ! They too will destroy their groundwater aquifers rather than seek a reliable permanent water Source which can be developed without damage to the environment or the water rights of others and can be delivered/distributed without outside power."
   
   Ray Walker (Retired Water Rights Analyst) waterrdw@yahoo.com

Lack of Water Causes Wars

 Dr. Farouk El-Baz, director of the Center for Remote Sensing at Boston University, confirmed too or that, “water is the (root) cause of the problem in Darfur. But at its root, it stressed, was the “changing patterns of human settlement,” that included, “drought-affected peoples from the desert edge ... (moving) to settle further south, and farmers expanding their cultivation to encroach on pastures and nomadic routes.”
The Middle East has long standing disputes stemming from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the Jordan river in Israel, and the Nile in Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan. These are only a few. We must also think about our own territory. The Ogallala Aquifer crosses eight states and provides drinking water for two million people and supports $20 billion in agriculture. With climate change and global warming we have had seven of the hottest temperatures in the last ten years and that statement speaks for its self. Drought and desertification are approaching more dense areas of a growing population and that equals less resources.

The Future is Up to Us

Water may be the most important resource we have. By draining this resource we could end up like this.

Is this where we will be in the future?

"Whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting over."

                                                                                  Mark Twain

There is a war on our greatest resource and most people don't even know it is happening. It is a war for water. Estimates state  1.1 billion people are without adequate drinking water. Recent wars  such as the Rwandan Genocide or the war in Sudanese Darfur, have been linked back to water conflicts. Water’s viability as a commercial resource, which includes fishing, agriculture, manufacturing, recreation and tourism, among other possibilities is dwindling a a rapid pace.

By 2025, 1800 million people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity, and two-thirds of the world population could be under stress conditions. "Water withdrawals are predicted to increase by 50 percent by 2025 in developing countries, and 18 per cent in developed countries. Water use has been growing at more than the rate twice of population increase in the last century.

By 2015 nearly half the world's population -- more than 3 billion people -- will live in countries that are 'water-stressed' -- have less than 1,700 cubic meters of water per capita per year, mostly in Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and northern China predicted a CIA report from 2000.