As with most of the videos being made about the Colorado River’s water shortage problems, this one misses the root cause and suggests that the only option is conservation. But is it?

Biden Administration Explores Options For Colorado River Water Crisis, presented by Arizonia Horizon PBS.

The Core Video Message.

Conflict over water.

[0:00] “… the Biden administration previewed a set of proposed solutions to the Colorado River’s supply and demand problem,…” The continued reduced flow of the Colorado River is [0:00] “…, an issue that finds lower basin states … increasingly at odds with upper basin states over water allocations.” This is resulting [0:27] “… in a protracted, multi-year, series of negotiations related to coming up with new operating guidelines for the whole Colorado River system. That system produces water that’s shared by seven states, 30 tribal nations and Mexico.”

No one will be satisfied.

[6:09] “…  no one was ever thinking about climate change back in 1922 when the upper basin agreed to deliver 75-million-acrefeet.” There is no doubt that the method of allocating who gets how much water is antiquated and likely unfair, but also that changing it will upset almost everyone.

Five ways, but none are good.

The US Bureau of Reclamation said: [1:51] “… here are the five different ways of operating the system that are going to model.” The options presented do not fix [0:00] “… the Colorado River’s supply-and-demand problem,” they are just methods to manage the ins and outs so everyone gets to give up something, and no one wins. Sarah says: [0:56] “… we need to figure out a way to take less water out of the system. So, we’re … in protracted negotiations over how to share the pain of less … Colorado River water.” With [0:51] “… a hard deadline of the end of 2026 to agree on the new guidelines.”

Make a choice.

That is a dismal message for the 40-million people who have grown to rely on that water for their life and livelihood. The choices are conservation or conservation.

A happier message would be nice.

In the text under the video, AZPBS Now stated: “The Biden administration has said since day one that it was looking to protect the water source.…” If the Biden administration really wished to “protect the water source,” it would do a root cause analysis; learn the reason for the diminishing volume of water; and initiate a solution so the river could return to its historic full potential.

Let us do a Root Cause Analysis.

What is the problem? The problem is that the river flow is diminishing.

Where does the river get its water? The Colorado Mountains, but less snow is being deposited.

Where does the Colorado Mountain snow come from? From air carried moisture.

Where does the airborne moisture originate? It comes from two hydrologic cycles. One from the southwest and one from the northwest.

Are these hydrologic cycles broken? The water cycle from the northwest appears to be stable. The water cycle from the southwest appears to have diminished moisture. This is demonstrated by the mega-drought. Let us evaluate the southwest water cycle.

Broken hydrologic cycle.

The southwest water cycle is: 1. Colorado Mountains, CO, USA > 2. Colorado River > 3. Colorado River Delta, Baja, MX. > 4. Laguna Salada, Baja, MX > 5. Salton Sea, CA, USA > 6. Great Basin, USA > 7. Great Salt Lake, UT, USA > 1. Colorado Mountains.

The parts of this hydrologic cycle:

1. Colorado Mountains, CO, USA.

The Colorado Mountains supplies the moisture which begin 158 named rivers. It is apparent that the flow of all these rivers has diminished in the past couple of decades. The common cry is that it Global-Climate-Change is the root cause. Everyone blames the easiest target but let’s look deeper.

2. Colorado River, USA & Baja, MX.

According to this video the Colorado River was accredited with [8:43] “… 16-million-acrefeet…” of flow, “… but the river is producing more like 14 or 15 or in recent years, … and sometimes of the projections are showing it could go down to 9-million-acrefeet.”  While the reduced flow is causing problems, it is the symptom, not the cause. 

3. Colorado River Delta, Baja, MX.

The delta is dry. The river’s flow ends just before the water enters the Colorado River Delta. This is 60-miles north of the ocean. The lack of water in the delta, over the last 90+ years has changed the Colorado River Delta from a 3,000-sq-mi, verdant, wet-land into a 3,000-sq-mi, brown dry desert. The delta’s features of large wet surface area, sunny hot atmospheric temperatures, strong northerly winds, and thirsty air, used to add large amounts of moisture into the atmosphere; into the hydrologic cycle. This micro-climate-change has reduced the moisture fed into the hydrologic cycle, thus the water cycle has less water to carry northeast.

4. Laguna Salada, Baja, MX

Laguna Salada is officially part of the Colorado River Delta, but it is also a significant feature in its own right. This inland sea lost its last standing water in 1999; the mega-drought began in 2000. Laguna Salada’s features of warm water, large surface area, shallow depth, sunny hot atmospheric temperatures, strong northerly winds, and thirsty air used to add large amounts of moisture into the atmosphere. The moisture gathered from Lagna Salada was carried north on the strong winds into California’s Central and Imperial valleys, but it no longer contributes to the hydrologic cycle. 

5. Salton Sea, CA, US

The Salton Sea was created in 1905 when an irrigation dike was breached. Its existence has been helpful in the water cycle for many years. The Salton Sea was also a wonderful vacation spot in the 1950s, and a favorite place for fish and birds. Being a terminal pool, the salinity in the lake increased to the point where the fish died and the lake stinks. Reduced moisture from the water cycle, and other places is returning the lake to its previous dry condition. The Salton Sea is not providing the same moisture into the hydrologic cycle as it did 40 years ago.

6. Great Basin, USA

The Great Basin is an interesting feature of the SW-USA. It is a watershed with no outlet, thus a basin. The Great Basin is large; it encroaches on 8 US States. It is full of salt deposits; think of the Bonneville Salt Falts and the Great Salt Lake, plus Death Valley is heavily salted. All this salt points to vast quantities of water, but the Great Basin is an arid land, so where did the water come from? Moisture from the west is blocked by mountains and the rain shadow effect. Moisture from the north seems to end up in the Colorado Mountains instead of the Great Basin. The Great Basin receives most of its moisture from the south, but with the dry Colorado River Delta, dry Laguna Salada and shrinking Salton Sea, not much moisture is progressing north. The great Basin has become dryer over the past 30 years.

7. Great Salt Lake, UT, USA

The Great Salt Lake is officially part of the Great Basin. There are twenty saline lakes within the Great Basin, but the Great Salt Lake gets most of the headlines. It lays in the northeast corner of the Great Basin and its evaporated moisture travels into the Colorado Mountains. In the last decade there have been fears that the Great Salt Lake would turn to dust. As the lake surface diminishes, the amount of moisture sent northeast also diminishes, which means less snow for the Colorado Mountains.  

Why did the water cycle break?

It appears that the Colorado River Delta is where the water cycle broke down. This seems to be the root of the problem which is reducing the river flow. There is an unwritten natural law which states that: “Removing large quantities of freshwater from its watershed will create unintended consequences; usually negative.” The dry delta is definitely a negative unintended consequence.

Some history.

For 90+ years massive amounts of freshwater have been removed from the Colorado River Watershed to six major cities: Albuquerque, NM; Denver, CO; Los Angeles, CA; Salt Lake City, UT; San Diego, CA; Santa Fe, NM. Combined they remove approximately 1.5-million-acrefeet of freshwater each year. If only this water could be left to flow into the delta, but it cannot.

Today.

So now we have a broken hydrologic cycle; which caused local droughts; which caused the mega drought; which is causing increased local temperatures and wildfires; which is now forecast to be aridification, our new normal.

Let’s not accept the new normal.

There are two ways to fix the problem.

1. Stop taking freshwater out of the watershed.

I do not think this will happen because approximately 40-million people rely on that freshwater for life and livelihood. I think they would complain. To replace this freshwater from alternate sources would be massively expensive.

2. Repair the water cycle. 

To replace the lost moisture input, we must replicate the lost water cycle. Can humans replicate a water cycle? This sounds like a big task; nigh on to impossible. Well, if man can break it, he should be able to fix it. Yes, humans can fix it, and it is a viable option. The cost of constructing, operating, and maintaining this project is considerable, but it can be collected from a water-use-fee imposed on those who broke the water cycle, the users of Colorado River water, as they continue to move water out of the watershed.

The US Bureau of Reclamation.

Because this operation spans multiple US states, it must be coordinated by the US government. Fortunately, the government already has an agency in place for this: The US Bureau of Reclamation. This type of project is fully within their mission: “The mission of the Bureau of Reclamation is to manage, develop, and protect water and related resources in an environmentally and economically sound manner in the interest of the American public.” 

The plan to replace the hydrologic cycle.

1. Colorado River Delta > Laguna Salada.

The plan begins here, with some agreement from Mexico, the flow of the Coyote Canal will be reversed. The Coyote Canal was installed as an overflow path for Laguna Salada. Today, with Laguna Salada being dry, overflow is not a problem. Refilling Laguna Salada will provide a shallow, warm body of saltwater, with a large surface area, to be an atmosphere moisture generator for the water cycle. By increasing the length of Coyote Canal, moisture can reach more parts of the desert delta on its way to Laguna Salada, thus providing hydration to more land, and more opportunity to infuse the atmosphere with moisture.

2. Laguna Salada > Salton Sea.

The Coyote Canal can be extended to the Salton Sea. This will be a new 60-mile-long metered-flow canal which must pass through a 150-foot hill. By extending the Coyote Canal past Laguna Salada and into the Salton Sea, Laguna Salada water salinity will be kept stable near the ocean salinity level.

3. Salton Sea > Great Basin.

The surface level of the Salton Sea can be maintained at its 1950s level by the metered flow of the Coyote Canal. The saltwater entering the Salton Sea will reduce the salinity of the Salton Sea. Over time the salinity and agricultural pollution of the Salton Sea will be reduced by the flowthrough of water into the Great Basin. With the increased lake level and the lower saline level, the Salton Sea will return more moisture into the atmosphere and the water cycle it feeds. At the same time the Salton Sea will once again become a place for people to work and play.

4. Great Basin > Great Salt Lake.

The agriculturally-polluted hyper-saline water pumped into the Great Basin will reside in a currently dry depression, where evaporation will remove freshwater into the atmosphere and leave behind the salt and pollutants. The natural processes of the water cycle within the Great Basin will move the freshwater northeast and deposit it into the Great Salt Lake. The surface level of the Great Salt Lake is the gauge which will determine the amount of water imported into the Great Basin.

5. Great Salt Lake > Colorado Mountains.

No human hands are needed for this part. By returning the moisture into the Great Basin and the Great Salt Lake, the original hydrologic cycle will be restored. The Colorado Mountains will be receiving enough moisture to return full flow to all 158 named rivers originating in those mountains.

Conclusion.

We cannot rob Mother Nature without receiving a punishment. This broken water cycle is our penalty for years of robbing Mother Nature. Let’s not accept the new normal. Let’s resist the aridification of the Colorado River Watershed. Let’s put the US Bureau of Reclamation to work within their assigned mission. One last thing, once the river is returned to full flow, let’s allow a constant flow into the Colorado River Delta, returning her share to Mother Nature. 

Proponent.

Move the Water! is the proposed initiative of Active Climate Rescue Initiative. Active Climate Rescue Initiative is founded to actively rescue our climate by encouraging positive climate change through water relocation into earth’s water deficit areas. Anyplace in the world where there is a dry depression is a place where there is a moisture deficit. These places are the key to reversing climate change. By infusing these places with water from an open flow inlet, moisture can be reintroduced into the local environment through hydrologic processes. Active Climate Rescue Initiative is a Michigan Non-Profit Corporation approved by the USA IRS as a 501.c.3 Public Charity.

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