Water Conservation and Agriculture in the Colorado River Basin

Discussions in this paper will include a general history and how the American Southwest relies on the Colorado River for survival, how climate change is effecting it, and management efforts to curtail conflicts between vying interests over a shared water source. Figure 1. Map of the Colorado River THE COLORADO RIVER The Colorado River is located in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. It is 1,450 miles long with its headwaters in the Rocky Mountain National Park in Estes Park, Colorado. Geologically, the Colorado River begins near Moab, Utah, at the junction of the Green River,which is the primary tributary for the Colorado.

N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Feb. 2014. http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20131203/NEWS01/312030027/State-oil-gas-association-sues-Fort-Collins-over-fracking-moratorium "Colorado." Energy From Shale. N.p., n.d.

Bureau of Reclamation. Drought In the Upper Colorado River Basin. 2014. Web. 14 Nov 2014.

Unknown. 25 year Saskatchewan water security plan. 25 year Saskatchewan water security plan. Saskatchewan water security agency, 2014. (accessed 27 Mar 2014).

The Colorado River Delta is a vast stream of water that begins in the Rocky Mountains and flows to the Gulf of California. It is the primary source of water for the western part of the United States, making the golden nectar available to Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, and Mexico. Because of miscellaneous international treaties and over 40 dams built along the river’s path (Ficklin 1), it is slowly becoming the most controlled of all watersheds. With the populations of these towns becoming greater, the amount of pull on the river from the society has increased as a rapid rate. Normally that would not be a problem but given the context, water sources are not as dynamic--fluid, if you will, as the world would often appreciate.

3 Nov. 2014. Postel, Sandra. “History of Drought and Water Conservation.” University of Nebraska , n.d. Web. 3 Nov. 2014.

Google Scholar. Web. 5 May 2014. Reinhardt, E.D., Keane, R.E., Calkin, D.E., and Cohen, J.D., “Objectives and considerations for wildland fuel treatment in forested ecosystems of the interior western United States” Forest Ecology and Management 256 (2008): 1997–2006. ProQuest.

These water laws came into effect “As early as 1879” (Hundley, Jr. 53). In the laws, there are even more constraints and idiosyncrasies including; owning ground water, owning surface water, senior rights and junior rights, and the use and reuse of rainwater or graywater. Water users in Colorado need to familiarize themselves with the laws and regulations involving water in order to receive the allotted water and the reasoning behind that number. Farmers and ranchers who own water rights should have their water amount filled earlier in order to facilitate themselves with the proper amount of water. They should not be restricted to a smaller prearranged amount of water each year.

Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone National Park is one of the largest and oldest national parks in American history. Yellowstone was the first park to be protected by private investment on March 1, 1872, and the first to be put under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service in 1918, no doubt due to its unique and inspiring landscape and geothermal features. In fact, Yellowstone National Park is home to half of the world’s total hydrothermal features. These awesome attractions draw an incredible amount of visitors, an average of two to three million each year, to Yellowstone’s immense landscape. The park has a total size of 28,125 square miles, is found in three distinct states, and is considered to be one of the largest intact temperate zone ecosystems in the world today (Yellowstone National Park Official Homepage).

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