COLORADO… A RIVER EARTH IS LOSING

As we set sailing in the Colorado, the boatman Mike (as I remember) began talking about him and the river. Earlier, he was in Los Vegas and lost a lot of money in casinos. He is now happy working as boatman in Colorado and spoke a lot about his wife and daughter.

Like many conservationists, even Mike is worried about future of Colorado. ``We are losing water fast. The ice is not melting in up mountains and a lot of water is being supplied to Los Vegas. The government wants money and is pumping water to ensure Vegas get more and more water,’’ he said.

Pointing out at side of the river that has watermark on the edge of the soil, Mike said that Colorado had lost over 30 feet of water during the last six years or so. He recalled a belief among native Indians that touching Colorado water would heal all disease and bring luck to people.

He had a lot of sense of humor. While drawing water from Colorado in a plastic container, he had put green color toy frog in it. The other tourists in the boat, who initially went to put their hands in the container were scared for a moment and burst into laughter.

On our way to Canyon from Vegas, we passed on Hoover Dam Bridge, built across Colorado. I could sense that everything was not all right, as Alan explained how the government is making all efforts to ensure that Vegas got water.

A week later, when I reached Washington, I watched a documentary on Colorado River by MacGillivray Freeman – Grand Canyon Adventure, River at Risk. At the end of the documentary, I was fully convinced that Colorado was indeed in danger.

Hoover dam was not the only reservoir built across Colorado. Before that, the government had built a dam at Glen Canyon to get cheap electricity. The entire projects were taken up based on rain projection for the next 50 years. However, there were factual error in the projections and rain actually decreased in the region.

Consequently, the reservoir lost half of the water during the last eight years and demand for water at Vegas is growing in an alarming rate. Besides, availability of water has triggered agricultural activity in the desert. The building of two dams has destroyed the natural course of water in many places, creating new ones.

There have been many campaigns to save Colorado for future, of which people like Robert Kennedy Junior are part of it. Noted Hollywood actor Robert Redford narrates the documentary, but the movement is yet to get a practical solution to save the river.

Over 30 million people are dependent on Colorado, which flows across USA and Mexico. The effect is already evident in Mexico, where only 8.6 per cent of water reaches that country. Once flowing in full fledge, Colorado flows like a small stream, leaving huge tracts of river basin for human habitation.

The new projection by conservationists is `Colorado will be dry in next 100 years’.