“In the West, when you touch water, you touch everything.”
— Wayne Aspinall, Colorado congressman from 1949 to 1973
A life source for millions, the Colorado River’s roots run deep as the binding force connecting the people and the land — the past to the present.
But many worry that the Colorado River lacks the ability to supply water to the region’s growing population.
The headwaters of the river begin high in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, streaming through small mountain towns such as Granby and nearby Fraser. Contrasting an idyllic image with that of “rough and rugged,” the rodeo culture permeates here, especially in Fraser. With a weekly rodeo during summer months, the cowboy culture remains strong, despite the pull of younger generations toward other lines of work.
Farther west, the river’s waters roar through Glenwood Canyon during the spring and summer, spilling and dividing into man- made canals to feed the orchards of the Western Slope. Palisade is famous for its fruit harvests.
Some residents, especially those of Palisade, Fraser and Granby, are worried that the increased amount of recreation, including rafting, along the water will spoil the natural beauty of the river. Also under great debate is the fate of the river’s trout. As Denver and eastern Colorado demand more water, the trout’s natural environment is disturbed, leaving many officials scrambling to accommodate both the political need to feed a burgeoning population and the environmental need to preserve this natural resource.
The Colorado River is bound by allocations. Seven states — Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and California — as well as Mexico claim some right to its water under the 1922 Colorado River Compact. If one region uses more water than is allocated, someone down the line suffers.
Many huge cities rely mainly, if not entirely, on Colorado River water, and if this source subsides, the price of water will increase, and the life and the culture of the regions would change.
Las Vegas and Phoenix are two cities that may be impacted. Both heavily rely on water from Lake Mead and Lake Powell, reservoirs fed by the Colorado River.
With a population expected to exceed 3 million by 2020 and a drought straining much of the Colorado, Las Vegas faces critical challenges in the near future.
A city of more than 2 million people, Phoenix is in the middle of a desert, yet many residents still expect green lawns and manicured gardens. Very little water is obtained from the ground, leaving the state in a precarious situation during drought years. Arizona receives part of its water resources from the Colorado River, dispensed through Hoover Dam to the north.
The dam started as a works project by President Herbert Hoover in 1931 and supplies water to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix and northern Mexico.
Because Mexico is situated in the lower basin of the Colorado River, at the end the water’s flow, it suffers the most in terms of availability of clean, usable water. The onion fields in the Mexican state of Sonora have been in jeopardy since the start of the drought in 2002, and as the demand for water increases up north, Mexico will see greater hardships from the reduction of water.
