...water will always be there, and this is becoming more and more evident as population increases and the supply decreases. Two major means for freshwater in the western United States are the Colorado River and the Ogallala Aquifer. These bodies of freshwater have had a vast history of disputes over how they should be allocated, maintained and treated. Up until now, there have been no agreements that have satisfied everyone. The allocation of fresh water resources in western America needs to be secured because if the status quo is maintained, the consequences will be enormous to humans and the environment, as well as the economy, whom are all dependent upon freshwater for survival. The Colorado River has had a long history of water allocation controversies. It is a major river that runs through seven states including Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico, Arizona, California and Nevada. It then continues into Mexico and empties into the Gulf of California. This river is 1,450 miles long and supplies water to over 40 million people. (Imperial Valley) The seven states the river runs through came together in 1922 and agreed upon the Colorado River Compact. This governs the allocation of water along the river by dividing the river into an upper and lower basin. The upper basin consists of Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and parts of Arizona. The lower basin is the other part of...
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...River Colorado This extraordinary river has many unique features and runs through 7 American states including Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California, Baja, California, and Sonora. Humans have benefitted from the river for the last 2000 years due to its huge potential. More water is exported from the colorado basin than from any other river basin in the US. However these human uses have caused various effects on the river discharge. Key Features: Big Thompson Trans-Basin Diversion Reservoirs including Mead, Powell, Flaming, Gorge and Fontenelle Dams such as Hoover, Davis and Parker Glen Canyon Grand Canyon The Colorado River Delta Figure 1 - shows the course of the river. The Upper Colorado starts at the source at La Poudre Pass Lake in the Rocky Mountain national Park in Colorado. Here the annual precipitation is very high in the park with as much as 2540mm of snow during the winter. Under the Rocky Mountains there is the Big Thompson Trans-Basin Diversion, which diverts water to 2 million people living in Colorado. The Colorado River begins to flow to the west into Grand Lake in Colorado. Once the Colorado River meets the U.S. southwest, it begins to meet several more dams and reservoirs including the Fontenelle (the first of 11 dams) and receives its principle tributary, the Green River before it reaches the Glen Canyon Dam which forms the reservoir Lake Powell in Southern Utah. Here the Colorado also joins with San Juan River. From here...
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...Case Study: Water Issues in the Southwest 1. Prior appropriation water rights are rights that are created on the appropriation doctrine, which is developed in Western states. These water rights are different from riparian water rights, which is rights for the eastern states. In the western states, water supplies are very limited and the right is also allotted to those who are “first in time if use.” Winters water rights is referred to as “reserved water rights.” The rights states that when an American Indian then states that when an American Indian reservation is established by either a treaty, statute, or executive order implied reservation of water rights is included in said treaty, statute, or executive order. These water rights apply to water sources that are either within he reservation or bordering it. The conflict is the controversy in some areas of water law including quantification and administration of tribal water rights. The Winters take a priority. 2. Southwest tribes have powerful rights to water, at least on paper. Most tribes have a priority water right that dates back to the creation of their reservations. Some tribes have entered into settlements regarding their water rights, but many have not. It is not possible to be ethical and address everyone’s water rights. Whether tribal water rights are settled, adjudicated, or as yet unquantified, global warming’s effects on water will only heighten the tension that exists with regard to access to the west’s...
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...Colorado River Native Riparian Vegetation in Grand Canyon: How Has Glen Canyon Dam Impacted These Communities? by Susan B. Infalt ABSTRACT Native riparian vegetation has changed considerably along the mainstem of the Colorado River between Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Mead since the closure of the dam. Old high water line (OHWL) plant species are in decline despite the shift some species have made into new, lower zones of the riparian area. Plants and sediment substrates directly adjacent to the river have been subjected to much less scour and desiccation with the post-dam hydrograph, and many woody species have been able to colonize much larger areas relative to pre-dam conditions. Novel communities such as return current channel marshes have developed in the canyon due to the lack of scour in backwater habitats. Overall, there has been a significant increase in the areal extent of riparian vegetation along this section of the Colorado River. The 1996 test flood was expected to scour existing riparian and marsh vegetation. Monitoring conducted after the flood revealed that vegetation was buried rather than scoured, and was able to recover to pre-flood levels within six months. Flows the size of the test flood, 45,000 cfs (1,274 m3/s), are inadequate to achieve current vegetation management goals, and will thus need to be modified if vegetation management goals are to be met. INTRODUCTION This paper will discuss the characteristics that make riparian zones in general extremely important...
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...abilities have vastly improved. These two changes, worldwide, have led to many large-scale projects that have altered the environment of sizable regions. This investigation focuses on three major water diversions- the Salton Sea, Aral Sea, and the Colorado River. Part 1: The Salton Sea 1. Describe the location of the Salton Sea. What is the climate and geography of the area? 2. How did the Salton Sea form? Explain what role humans played. 3. What is the present condition of this body of water? How has it changed over the last 25 years? Why? 4. Describe several ways the Salton Sea has altered the ecosystem of the region. Explain the stability of that ecosystem. How is it changing over time? 5. Outline 3 environmental and 3 economic reasons the Salton Sea is important. 6. What steps are being taken to remediate the Salton Sea? What are the chances of success? Explain. 7. Compare the similarities and differences between the Salton Sea and Lake Chad in sub-Saharan Africa. Part 2: The Aral Sea 1. Find the location and other geographic information about the Aral Sea from a current atlas. a) Which former Soviet republics border the Aral Sea? b) Which rivers mainly supply the Aral Sea? 2. What government agency is...
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...In the beginning when Yuma County was being made, Irrigation was being made and was apart of the Yuma Project. The population dealt with many struggles but in the end, had better lives due to the Yuma project and Irrigation. Irrigation affected Yuma County in different ways, not all positively. Using irrigation, the population in Yuma was able to grow, the agriculture flourished, and the income due to crops grew. Not only did irrigation help in many ways, it also caused flooding. The Yuma County Water Users Association was established back in 1903. A year later the Secretary of Interior, Ethan A. Hitchcock authorized the Yuma Project. Due to the Yuma project, many companies formed in order to irrigate the lands of the Yuma Valley. “Reclamation, purchased the property of the local irrigation and ditch companies and maintained their operation until the project could supply water. The Irrigation and Improvement Co. fought Reclamation’s takeover through legal action...never went before the Court. Reclamation assumed control of the property the same year.” Irrigation was beneficial to Yuma County in many ways. Due to the irrigation in 1909, 7,5000 acres of land was used for agriculture. As of 1930, 59,450 acres was used to make canals and in 2002, 44,832 acres was used for housing and business. Within 2 years of irrigation, farmers had spent 300,00 dollars for different equipment that would help them take care of their land. Of course with the good comes the bad. Once irrigation...
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...The second change in the canyon was when the ancestral Colorado River became integrated with the lower Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. The rivers conjunction contributed to an increase in the erosion of the Grand Canyon, as more water now flowed through. The last significant change caused by plate tectonics seen was the influence of the Colorado River due to formation of the Hurricane and Toroweap Faults located in the western portion of the canyon (Pelletier, 2009). The formation of these faults allowed for an increase flow of water in the western canyon contributing to an increase in erosion. These formations are unique to the Grand Canyon and have occurred due to the movement of tectonic plates. In Peru, the Colca Canyon is situated on the South American plate, which has continually been moving west, colliding with the Nazca Plate. This collision caused the major uplift that formed the Andes Mountains, which the Colca Canyon is a part of. In response to this uplift, the canyon has seen the valley deepen by an average rate of .2 mm per year (Thouret et al., 2007). This rate is extremely fast in comparison to the rate other canyons in the world are deepening at. The sediments found in the layering of canyons contain different particles that cause canyons to shape in particular ways. Just as different sediments shape these canyons, different sediments shape the rest of our world. The shape of mountains, rivers, valleys, and all other natural structures has to do with...
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...explore the effects of the All-American Canal and the ongoing battle against illegal immigration. The canal is owned by the federal government and operated by the Imperial Irrigation District (IID). This paper will examines both sides of the moral obligation and responsibility of the government and the immigrants that attempt to cross the canal. Keywords: Imperial Irrigation District, responsibility Claim: “It is permissible for the federal government to allow the drowning deaths of illegal immigrants at the All-American Canal to continue because they aren’t required to provide life saving equipment. Explanation of the claim: The All-American Canal is an aqueduct that conveys the last drops of Colorado River water into the Imperial Valley in California. The canal provides drinking water for 9 cities and irrigates over 500,000 acres. It was built in the 1930’s by the United States Bureau of Reclamation and completed in 1942. It’s owned by the federal government and operated by the Imperial Irrigation District (IID). Two thirds of our winter fruits and vegetables are grown using this water. The canal creates jobs in the farming industry and half of the people who pick the crops are illegal aliens who cross the canal from Mexico. The problem is the canal is 225 feet across and 20 feet deep with currents that can carry a person 8 feet per second once in the water. Since the double fences were installed on the borders of San Diego, Ca. and Mexico...
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...Few would argue that the Grand Canyon is the most desirable tourist destinations in the world. Adventures there include descriptive words such as “amazing,” “breathtaking,” “incredible,” and “magnificent.” How do you describe one of the seven wonders of the world? The Canyon’s elegance and beauty go far beyond people’s ability to describe. So much has been written about the wonders of Grand Canyon. The South Rim is overrun with plenty visitors, both from the US and international. Bumper to bumper traffic and large pushy crowds are the norm at the scenic sight. But the best-kept secret of the Grand Canyon adventure isn’t discovered by visiting the arid South Rim. The best way to see the Grand Canyon is to get “Off the Beaten Path” via the North Rim! It’s a visitor’s dream come true, with incredible views, improved trails and great facilities. The only thing the North Rim doesn’t offer you are the crowds. When approaching the northern canyon access, you travel through the scenic Kaibab Plateau-North Rim Parkway, which traverses the 1500 square mile North Kaibab National Forest-Grand Canyon National Game Preserve. Travelers drive through the gentle green forests, which rise dramatically to 9,000 feet in elevation. The Kaibab, which the Paiute Indians called “the mountain lying down,” changes from the Sonoran desert zone at one extreme, to the frosty climate of the sub-alpine zone nearer the canyon. Dense pine forests of the high Kaibab Plateau end abruptly at the canyon’s edge...
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...“Beauty in Nature” It was cold, dark, and quiet, and I was having the time of my life. As I was lying on my cot on that little beach at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, I started to relive the whole experience from start to finish and I suddenly relized how fortunate I was to have this experience. It all started in the beginning of January 2010. For my sixteenth birthday, my grandparents said that I could pick anything I wanted to do, anywhere in the country, and they would pay for my Dad, my Grandpa, and I to go. After a few weeks of indecision (I had so many ideas that I couldn’t decide) my Grandpa called me and told me that he had asked a travel agent for ideas. She informed him of a trip that consisted of visiting the city of Las Vegas, spending a day on a cattle ranch, and, best of all, a three day, two night rafting trip through the Grand Canyon. A decision that I had been struggling with for weeks was solved with a short phone call. This was the trip I wanted to take, the trip of a life time. The date was set, we would fly to Las Vegas at the end of May. This posed a slight problem in that school didn’t let out untill the fifth of June, and final exams were taking place in the last two weeks. After much effort on my part, I was able to exempt a couple of exams and convince the rest of my teachers to allow my to take their test early. Everything was in order, we were to leave a full week before the end of school. The plan was for my Dad and I to drive up to my Grandparents’...
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...2013 "This is where families form unbreakable bonds. Where sharing a moment means creating a memory. And where your family getaway is something you'll return to forever. Come share this unforgettable experience. In a land called Colorado." This particular ad is a description of a visit to the state of Colorado. Convincing more tourism is the purpose for this ad. The targeted audience for this ad is seen visually in the painting of a family surrounded by a camp-wood fire in the middle of nowhere. Families, and mainly people who love to travel, are called through this promotion. This ad appeals to families of a certain socio-economic and educational level. There are advertising techniques used to symbolize these things. Plain folks, the most seen technique, is a suggestion that the product is a practical product of good value for ordinary people. When you look at the Colorado ad, you can easily visualize your "ordinary" family around that camp fire in the wilderness. However, families who cannot provide the "perfect" life for their children cannot replace the people that are photographed in the picture. Families that are poor or unstable, such as drug addicts, alcoholics, and abusive will not be seen taking a plane, bus, or car al the way to Colorado to see the mountains. The ideal family is seen here. Using the consumer's imagination, they are finishing up riding their horses around for a nature walk, settling down around a fire to watch the stars race across the skies. They...
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...feet deep and the North is 8,000 feet deep as well and being higher in elevation. The channels were cut through layer after layer of a rock while the Colorado Plateau was being uplifted caused by the process of the crustal thickening. No matter how many geologist study the Grand Canyon no one can ever figure out how it was formed but everyone has their guesses. The guesses by geologist were stated that the possibility of it being formed was based on the environment causing deposition and the Earth’s movements causing it to have a continental drift and being able to see the process of erosion and volcanism....
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...She brings to light the tradeoffs of the pioneering American of legend and the necessity to not forget what is lost in time. Another water project, the Salton Sea on the Southern tip of California is a prime example of the way artists of the West interacted with government projects of water management. The diversion of water from the Colorado river in canals in the early 20th century led to the creation of the small inland sea. Edmund Mitchell writes about the reason for the creation of the sea in his essay “The Salton Sea” in 1906: “the California Development Company set itself to supply...
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...Colorado River Report "An inhospitable desert has become a playground, and the Colorado River has become a plumbing system.” The Colorado River Report (2000) states that, “the erection of dams, reservoirs, and canals, along with countless diversions, has turned the river in a plumbing system, and today, the Colorado is a river no more.” The creation of this pluming system has imposed destruction on the river, such as “most of the native fish are endangered, that major bird migration stops are severely truncated and degraded, that some of the most spectacular scenery in the world is less than spectacular” (Colorado River Report, 2000), for example. The Colorado River Tasks Force concluded that “the current usage of the river is unsustainable. The existing plumbing system is vulnerable to sustained drought or earthquakes, as well as to engineering failure” (Colorado River Report, 2000). Simply put, all of these problems are the outcome of “unbalanced allocation of a critical natural resource, the water of the Colorado River Basin” (Colorado River Report, 2000). The study expresses that California’s allocation of the Colorado River is 4.4 maf/y, yet California diversions from the river have often exceeded this and have been as much as 5.2 maf/y. The six other basin states have insisted that California implement a 4.4 Plan (of the water that must be delivered by the Upper Basin states to the Lower Basin) to alleviate most or all of these problems. “To do this...
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...Manicured golf courses and tree-lined streets belie the fact that there is very little natural greenery in the Coachella Valley. Notable exceptions are the scenic hikes in Indian Canyons, near Palm Springs. The longest of many hikes on this Native American land is the Palm Canyon Trail, a total of 15 miles. This trail follows Palm Canyon Creek, which may or may not have flowing water depending on the time of year and recent rainfall. Once you pass the tollgate, the second parking area reaches this trail. This is also the parking area that houses the trading post, which offers a nice collection of Native American crafts and gift items, along with restrooms. The Native Americans here are the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuila Indians, and they’ve lived in the Palm Springs area for centuries, growing melons, squash, beans, and corn. In the 1870s the federal government deeded 31,500 acres the tribe. Currently part of this land is within the city of Palm Springs. Visitors use these scenic trails with tribal permission and are required to respect tribal rules and regulations, including the price of admission and hours of operation. From the trading post, a short but steep trail leads down to the creek and the start of the trail system. There is a picnic area there, and some people find it pleasant to simply spend some time under the tall palms in this, the longest natural palm grove in the state, perhaps the country. From the picnic area, Palm Canyon goes two ways, the left being...
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