Colorado River

The Colorado River system flows 1,450 miles through nine states and Mexico; the Grand Canyon was created by its waters. The aridity of most of this region has made its water into a valuable commodity, and the fragile desert, canyon, and delta ecosystems it supports have suffered as a result.

The Colorado River system is one of the most complex river systems in the world. Its watershed drains nine states in the United States and Mexico. The mainstem Colorado River is only a part of this large river system, which also includes the Green River, the Gunnison River, the San Juan River, the Little Colorado River, the Gila River, and a multitude of other tributaries, large and small. The water of these rivers traverses a number of life zones on its 1,450-mile journey from high mountain lakes to the sea. On its way it flows through incomparable desert canyons, including the Grand Canyon, which it formed over millennia.

The Transformation of a Western River

The Colorado River system is one of the most complex river systems in the world. Its watershed drains nine states in the United States and Mexico. The mainstem Colorado River is only a part of this large river system, which also includes the Green River, the Gunnison River, the San Juan River, the Little Colorado River, the Gila River, and a multitude of other tributaries, large and small. The water of these rivers traverses a number of life zones on its 1,450-mile journey from high mountain lakes to the sea. On its way, it flows through incomparable desert canyons - including the Grand Canyon - which it formed over millennia.

Prior to the twentieth century, the Colorado River and its tributaries were wild, powerful, and untamed. Their waters were the lifeblood of the Anasazi and other ancient cultures. Their canyons confronted early European explorers, including the Spaniard Escalante who saw the Colorado from the rim of the Grand Canyon while searching for the legendary Cities of Gold. Their bounteous wildlife nourished early frontiersmen, such as the mountain men who ventured out of eastern civilization to ply the shores of the Green River and its tributaries for the bounty of beaver pelts. The Colorado River and its tributaries nourished native peoples and cultures for thousands of years - Shoshone, Ute, Paiute, Zuni, Hopi, Navajo, Hualapai, Havasupai, Quechan, Mohave, Chemehuevi, Apache, Tohono O'odham, Pima, Maricopa, Cocopah, Cucapa, and others. The Colorado River beckoned John Wesley Powell to explore its unknown depths in small wooden boats:

We are now ready to start on our way down the Great Unknown. Our boats, tied to a common stake, chafe each other as they are tossed by the fretful river. . .. We have an unknown distance yet to run, an unknown river to explore. What falls there are, we know not; what rocks beset the channel, we know not; what walls rise over the river, we know not. Ah, well! we may conjecture many things.
- The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons

Powell himself was among the first of many to see the Colorado River as a challenge to be conquered - a wild beast to be tamed. To "civilize" the heart of the West, the Colorado River and its tributaries would have to be controlled and harnessed for growth and expansion.

The year was 1922. Calvin Coolidge was in the White House. Prohibition was in full force. Flappers were discovering jazz in smoke-filled speakeasies. In a lodge near Santa Fe, New Mexico, state representatives from Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and California wrangled over the water of the Colorado River and its tributaries. They recognized that these waters were the lifeblood of the West and that power went to whoever controlled the water, and each of them sought to share in that power.

With eight signatures on a two-page compact - one from each state representative plus Herbert Hoover's approval as Secretary of Commerce - the Colorado River system began its transformation: from living, vibrant ecosystems that ebbed and flowed with the natural hydrologic cycle into a manipulated tool for farms, cities, and industries. The Colorado River Compact of 1922 divided the watershed in two, and the entire flow of the Colorado River system was given to "beneficial consumptive use." In other words, if the water was not diverted out of the river and used, it was considered "wasted." No legal right could be attached to "wasted" water, and it could be claimed by another who could put it to beneficial consumptive use. The compact did not recognize instream flows - water as it naturally flows through its channel - as "beneficial use."

In the decades that followed, laws, court decisions, treaties, and regulations were piled on top of the Colorado River Compact. They further divided up rights to the river and authorized dams, reservoirs, channelization projects, and other modifications that made the river a more efficient water delivery system and a less functional river. In time, westerners forgot that the Colorado, Green, Gunnison, Yampa, White, Price, Dolores, San Juan, Little Colorado, Virgin, Bill Williams, Verde, Salt, Gila, and many others were rivers, not just water supplies.

Today, we are left with a 244,000-square mile, fragmented "plumbing system" that virtually no-one recognizes as a single, ecologically intact watershed. Rights to Colorado River water remain concentrated in the hands of the few powerful interests that prevailed in the first half of the twentieth century. Water that could sustain wildlife and habitat from source to mouth is being stored in reservoirs for future uses. Farmers pay nothing for Colorado River water that is still sometimes applied by opening headgates and flooding acres of fields in the desert, while urban areas pay upwards of $300 an acre-foot for the water, and some species of native wildlife continue their decline into extinction because the river no longer functions naturally.

Rivers Foundation of the Americas hopes to participate in the beginning of a new era for the Colorado River system. The twentieth century saw Colorado River law and management become more entangled and knotted; both the river and the human communities that depend on it will soon be in crisis. RFA will bring focus back to the watershed as a single, functioning ecological system - one that will ensure a sustainable future for all living creatures in the heart of the West.

Mountains to Sea: The Watershed Approach

Conserving, protecting, and restoring a 1,450-mile long river and its tributaries within a nine-state, two-country area covering 244,000 square miles - this is no small task. Others in the conservation community have set their sights on particular places and issues in the watershed and have seen only partial returns for their efforts. Rivers Foundation of the Americas firmly believes that approaching river conservation at the full watershed level is the only way to improve the health of the river system. But as a new organization with limited resources, we know that we are not able to be everywhere in the watershed at once. To effect long-term reform of Colorado River law and management we must use our resources and expertise wisely.

Save the restored Cathedral in the Desert and Fort Moqui!

By Christopher Peterson, Executive Director Glen Canyon Institute

In 1963, Glen Canyon, the wild heart of the Colorado Plateau, was flooded by Lake Powell for water storage. Backing up the surplus waters of the Colorado River nearly 200 miles, Glen Canyon Dam created 200 mile-long Lake Powell, which generates a small amount of electricity, and provides a water skiing destination in the middle of the desert. Legendary Glen Canyon's 125 major side canyons were lost when the dam was constructed and the Grand Canyon and Glen Canyon ecosystems have been badly damaged due to the dam.

Water Demand has surpassed Supply in the Southwest: Era of Water Surplus is over

Today, the water surplus at Lake Powell, accumulated over the past half-century, is nearly gone (see Figure 1 below). When the dam was built, demand was far less, but today's demand for water across the basin exceeds the supply of water available from the Colorado River. Demand is predicted to continue to grow, leaving no extra water to store at Lake Powell in the future. Instead, water shortages and transfers from agriculture to urban use will prevail with captured flood waters immediately distributed to thirsty cities. Lake Powell was a "one trick pony" whose usefulness has expired.

Growing demand for Western Water is Draining Lake Powell

Despite premature reports that the drought is over and reservoirs across the West may again be full soon, it is crucial to recognize that growing water demand is draining Lake Powell; the drought has only highlighted the issue. Lake Powell will rise and fall in the coming years as political maneuvering for valuable water as the debate about Western Water builds. Occasional water surpluses at Lake Powell will be quickly withdrawn for thirsty cities both up and downstream from Glen Canyon. Also, the depletion and recharge processes will be compounded by the effects of on-going climate change in the West.

Lake Powell wastes water

Powell reservoir loses on average 800,000 acre-feet of water annually to evaporation and bank seepage. This is three times the state of Nevada's Colorado River allocation and enough to supply the city of Los Angeles for at least a year. Water managers throughout the West are taking steps toward moving the remaining Colorado River surplus water to other storage facilities in underground aquifers, headwater and off-stream reservoirs, and to Lake Mead.

Lake Mead is enough. Leave Glen Canyon alone.

Lake Powell will never be kept full again. Recent studies on the future hydrology of the Colorado River demonstrate that Lake Powell will be below its current 35% of full most of the next century. Lake Mead, alone, is adequate for seasonal water storage. The occasional flood captures at Lake Powell can easily be stored in existing reservoir and aquifer facilities elsewhere across the basin. Water managers are recognizing the need and opportunities developing, and are taking steps to ensure their own respective water rights are protected. Those steps will render the water storage purpose of Lake Powell unnecessary and obsolete.

America's Lost National Park: Protect Cathedral in the Desert and the "new" Glen Canyon

Glen Canyon is legendary for its cultural significance, as well as for unparalleled beauty, with lush waterfalls, stone arches, soaring mesas, twisting narrows, hoodoos, natural bridges, ancient ruins, and rock art. Glen Canyon's splendor has been lost for forty years, but now this spectacular lost canyon wonderland is found and has triggered significant international attention. People around the world are clamoring to witness a free flowing Colorado River breathing new life into places like Cathedral in the Desert, with ancient ruins and priceless historical sites emerging from the depths of Lake Powell. The importance of protecting these precious resources is essential in light of increased visitation to the emerging landscape.

Right now, hundreds of spectacular features in Glen Canyon landscape have reemerged and the canyon is naturally restoring itself. More than 40 miles of both the Colorado and San Juan Rivers, and hundreds of miles of side-canyons are rapidly recovering. The biological heart of the Colorado River is proving remarkably resilient as vegetation, native fish, birds and the entire spectrum of desert wildlife species are reclaiming the revealed landscape. Glen Canyon is simply a National Park-caliber landscape that must be protected "unimpaired for future generations," and allowed to naturally restore to its original splendor.

The growing number of visitors to these fragile restoring canyons presents a significant management challenge to the National Park Service in Glen Canyon as the agency adapts to the management challenges presented by the changing user impacts. Precious cultural, historical, and biological resources must be protected against visitor impacts. As visitor use shifts within Glen Canyon, "America's Lost National Park" should be managed as the keystone of the Grand Circle of National Parks across the rugged Colorado Plateau from Grand Canyon to Mesa Verde & Capitol Reef to Rainbow Bridge.

Restoring Glen Canyon will save Grand Canyon

The environmental impacts on Grand Canyon caused by Glen Canyon Dam are undeniable. The failing health of the fragile Grand Canyon ecosystem are well documented by the Federal Government and the tribes. Endangered Species populations in the Grand Canyon continue to drop while nutrient-rich sediment deposits grow rapidly behind Glen Canyon Dam at the rate of 30,000 dump-truck loads daily. With the water storage purpose of Glen Canyon Dam becoming less valuable as demand outstrips supply, the protection mandate of the Grand Canyon Protection Act and the Glen Canyon Dam 1996 EIS must be reconsidered immediately in the face of likely extirpation of Humpback Chub in the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River.

Glen Canyon should be protected now

Glen Canyon Institute is currently working to ensure the emerging resources within Glen Canyon are protected and documented. Right now, reservoir levels are projected to temporarily rise 40+ feet, once again drowning incredible features such as legendary Cathedral in the Desert, Fort Moqui, and Gregory Natural Bridge. They will be under water for a few months until the water levels recede again in early fall. This extra water could easily be stored in half-empty Lake Mead.

In the short term, surplus water should be stored in Lake Mead, where there is ample capacity. Open the gates, let the river flow through Glen Canyon.

However, beginning next month, the seasonal rise in reservoir levels will begin to flood these recently emerged treasures again....and they will be underwater for a few months until the water recedes once again early in the fall. This extra water could easily be stored in half-empty Lake Mead reservoir.

Fill Mead First- Let the river flow: Save Fort Moqui and Cathedral in the Desert.

Glen Canyon Institute advocates that the emerging resources in Glen Canyon should be protected and studied. Lake Powell is rapidly becoming a relic of the past and the importance of protecting Glen Canyon and Grand Canyon should be studied immediately by the United States Congress.

Restore and Protect Glen Canyon: Free the Colorado River.
Please visit the Glen Canyon Institute website for more information.