For Thousands of years the Colorado River has been the epicenter for life in the American West. It has carved its way from the Rocky Mountains through the deserts of the Southwest eventually emptying into the Gulf of California in Mexico. The rivers 1,500 miles of length sustains 11 national parks, 7 national wildlife refuges, 4 national recreation areas, 5.5 million acres of agricultural land, 22 Native American tribes, 1.6 million jobs, and 40 million people across 7 states. Needless to say there is a lot riding on the Colorado River’s water quantity and quality. Unfortunately, both variables are decreasing at an alarming rate, and it is all our fault.
Only relatively recently has the Colorado river been so heavily relied on. The river was first mapped in 1869. In 1922 the seven states that house the river signed an agreement stating that each state must develop areas of the river all at different times and that each state is entitled to 7.5 million acre- feet of water each year. This was all well and good until projects such as the Hoover dam, Glen Canyon dam, Navajo dam, and Curcanti dams were constructed in each state forming massive lakes and reservoirs in areas where the river once flowed. These storage basins where intended to ensure water availability for the state’s residents, but mother nature had other intentions.
Since 2000, the Colorado River Basins has been experiencing the worst drought in 100,000 years. Unusually warm temperatures and dry conditions have resulted in increased evaporation rates from the rivers storage basins. The United States Geological Survey estimates that 10% of the total water in the Colorado river is lost to evaporation as is travels the full length of the river. The decrease in the rivers flow rate due to man-made dams means that water has more time to be evaporated. Mike Hobbins and Joseph Barsugli of the Earth Systems Research Laboratory have found that for every degree Celsius that the Earth warms due to global warming, the Colorado Rivers flow decreases by 9.3%. The problem is that as regions begins to undergo aridification, more water is required to maintain fight the problem. Since 2000 the Colorado Rivers stream flow has decreased by 20% and the rivers two largest reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell have lost a combined 70% of their total water levels. The water loss due to evaporation combined with accelerated water use for anthropomorphic reasons such as farming irrigation, which consumes 70% of all the water in the Colorado River, has resulted in the Colorado River outputting 33.6 million acre- feet of water more than the river is supplied. This accelerated water loss is only further exacerbated by the remaining waters progressively worse water quality.
As water moves down the river it collects particulates from rocks and organic matter within the river. It is estimated that about 7.5 million tons of dissolved solids such as calcium, magnesium, sodium, and sulfates flow through the river each year. Dissolved solids existing in bodies of fresh water is a naturally occurring process, providing nutrients for plants and microbes. But because of the rapid loss of water due to evaporation, the remaining Colorado River water has become too heavily concentrated with dissolved solids. This intensification of total dissolved solids results in water that is increasingly difficult to use despite the increase in demand. Water being used for residential purposes must spend more time a water processing plants each year before being distributed. Water being employed for agricultural irrigation leaves the soil a saline mess, requiring farmers to add more fertilizers and chemicals to the soil to maintain optimal growing conditions. These additives of course eventually make their way back into the river as runoff worsening water quality for those down stream of farms. It is estimated that it costs roughly $750 million dollars per year to cope with the rivers total dissolved solids concentration. The icing on the cake is that the only solution to fixing the concentration of dissolved solids is to dilute the river, but current consumption rates and weather patterns are making that nearly impossible.
To reduce water scarcity and economic hits in the American West, I look towards our friends down under. The Australian Murray- Darling Basin shares several similarities with the Colorado River basin. Both have similar variability with their climate, both cross several state boarders, both have a competitive agricultural industry, and both have too many entities needing too little water. The only difference is that once basin allocates its water far better than the other. Can you guess which one? The Australian Murray- Darling Basin maintains and regulates water use using an interstate water market. An interstate water market operates like a traditional free market, but the only product is the quantity of water. First the Federal government sets a limit on the overall quantity of water that can be removed from the entire river. This limit is usually below or even to the quantity of water added to the river in that given time. The fixed quantity is divided evenly among the states, and from there states can buy and sell portions of their available water usage. This results in a free market that makes it increasingly more expensive to use water and increasingly more lucrative to save water. The federal government does step in at times to hand out subsidies to farmers allowing them to buy more water at cheaper prices. This concept transforms water into a economic good, which incentives smart water use. You won’t be seeing green lawns and lush gardens in the Murry- Darling Basin, but what you will see is a river system that is being properly supported and regulated by an economic system.
Why this has not been installed in the entirety of the Colorado River Basin is beyond me. If we continue to use more water than is being supplied to the river the issues listed above will only continue to exponentially worsen. Sacrifices must be made to maintain a water source so many depend on. If you settle down in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, or Wyoming with the dreams of having a house surrounded by Kentucky blue grass for your kids to play in and a colorful flower garden in your side yard to look at as you drink you morning coffee, sorry to disappoint, but you picked the wrong side of the United States. The future of the Colorado River’s water scarcity is unknown, but it will require the collective effort of everyone who relies on its contents, as well as efforts to fight greenhouse gas emissions to restore the river back to comfortable levels.
