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Water worries grow on Colorado River

Drought conditions lasting 5 or more years will persist 40 percent of the time over the next five decades on the Colorado River, according to a federal analysis released Monday .

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which manages water flows on the river, issued the first installment of a long-range study about bridging the gap between supply and demand for river water. The next update will deal with water-use projections and ways to address shortages. The final report, with recommendations, is expected in July 2012.

The Colorado River is one of the San Diego region's two main water sources, along with the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Local officials are trying to develop local sources such as groundwater, reclaimed wastewater and desalinated ocean water.

After a long line of dreary forecasts for the Colorado River Basin, no one expected the bureau's projections to be rosy -- and they weren't. The study anticipates roughly a 9 percent decrease in flows on the river over the next 50 years, along with increased drought periods. Projections are based on climate models that show decreased precipitation across the Southwest in years to come.

"This is the most comprehensive look at the water supply and water demand picture in the Colorado River Basin," said Halla Razak, Colorado River program director for the San Diego County Water Authority. "Everybody really believes that this study will give us a pretty good road map to move forward."

That's no easy task given that there's more demand for Colorado River water than it can provide today, let alone with lower flows and higher demands.

Monday's study said the period from 2000 through 2010 represents the lowest 11-year average natural flow at a given point on the Colorado River in recorded history, approximately 20 percent below the 103-year average. Although an 11-year drought of that magnitude is unprecedented in over 100 years, reconstructions of prehistoric stream flows show that equal or greater droughts have occurred.

On the demand side, the study said that from 1971-1999 water use in the Colorado River Basin increased by about 23 percent.

San Diego County and the rest of the state emerged from a three-year drought and related water-use restrictions after heavy snowfall last winter. Many water experts expect the reprieve to be temporary.

About 15 percent of Colorado River withdrawals are used by the basin’s urban water utilities use that serve more than 30 million people and support hundreds of billions of dollars in economic activity annually. In addition, the Colorado River is a major source of water for agriculture, irrigating nearly 4 million acres of land. The river also is a major source of hydroelectric power.

The Colorado River - pinggroups.com

The Colorado River is one particular of the most critical rivers in the United States. It is the biggest and most relied upon river in the southwestern component of the United Says. It is a vital source of h2o for agriculture, consuming drinking water, hydroelectric power, and recreation for thousands and thousands of residents in the largely desert American southwest.

The Colorado River commences at substantial elevations in the Rocky Mountains in the northern component of the state of Colorado. Close to its resource at Grand Lake is its initial dam, a single of dozens it encounters as it helps make its way in direction of the Gulf of California in Mexico. The river flows through or adjacent to five states: Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and California. Streams and rivers from seven says feed the Colorado, the biggest rivers currently being the Gunnison, Green, San Juan, Gila, and the Virgin.

The Colorado River is around 1,450 miles prolonged. Nevertheless its course is interrupted in numerous spots by huge reservoirs these as Lake Mead, Lake Powell, and Lake Mohave. Lake Mead is 110 miles in duration and was shaped by the impounding of the Colorado by the Hoover Dam. It is the biggest reservoir in the United States. The Colorado is most famously identified for carving the spectacular Grand Canyon in Arizona. The Grand Canyon, which is visited by far more than 5 million folks annually, is thought to be a single of the 7 wonders of the normal entire world.

The Colorado is so intensely used that by the time it reaches its reduce program around Yuma, Arizona, it no more time persistently reaches the Gulf of California in Mexico. This has lead to important habitat destruction in the Colorado River delta area in Mexico. Agricultural use drains the vast bulk of the Colorados h2o. There are fourteen native species of fish in the Colorado. Some of the fish are now threatened species.

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