01-05-2014, 07:56 PM
[#0000FF]It's a good example of the battle over water that has existed forever. Those who have are reluctant to share with those who have not...especially when there are dwindling resources to begin with.
I lived in So. Cal during my earlier years and fished the Colorado River along much of its length. I also crossed the border (Mexico) and fished the lower Colorado...in the (former) marshlands at the top of the Sea of Cortez. There used to be meandering waterways and unending food and cover for both fish and wildfowl. It was a Garden of Eden...and eatin'.
All that was before the completion of Lake Powell and the shutting of the spigot on the Colorado River. That was the death knell for the lower Colorado River. Only during the flood years of 1983 and '84 did any more water actually reach the Gulf of California. And that was over quickly.
The reduced/eliminated flow of fresh water from the Colorado River also had a major impact on the ecology of the upper end of the Gulf. It was formerly rich with shrimp and many fish species. Some...like the big totuavas...would enter that zone for their annual spawning cycles. When the nutrient rich inflows were cut off, everything went downhill. The overall ecology in that area is much different...and not for the good.
I also lived in southern Arizona for about 20 years, from the early 80's until I moved back to Utah in 2004. I revisited some of my old fave spots both along the Colorado River and along the upper western side of the Sea of Cortez. Appalling. Still some decent fishing for some species...in the salt water...but no fresh water at all below the border.
By agreement between the countries, the US does allow a certain amount of Colorado River water to cross the border...for Mexican farmers. But after that water has been used and recycled multiple times by US interests it is almost too salty and chemical-laden to grow most crops. Much of it is merely runoff water after having been used to water Arizona's cotton fields or alfalfa. It leeches out a lot of salt from the nasty desert ground and picks up herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers before draining off the fields and back into the river. It is almost a good thing that all that stuff does not drain into the otherwise clean Sea of Cortez.
Should we allocate more water to Mexico? Sure. That would be a humanitarian thing to do. But then we have to decide who to short on this side of the border. Virtually every drop of Colorado River water is already spoken for...with a long line of folks who want to fight over anything that might not be taken by those who own it.
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I lived in So. Cal during my earlier years and fished the Colorado River along much of its length. I also crossed the border (Mexico) and fished the lower Colorado...in the (former) marshlands at the top of the Sea of Cortez. There used to be meandering waterways and unending food and cover for both fish and wildfowl. It was a Garden of Eden...and eatin'.
All that was before the completion of Lake Powell and the shutting of the spigot on the Colorado River. That was the death knell for the lower Colorado River. Only during the flood years of 1983 and '84 did any more water actually reach the Gulf of California. And that was over quickly.
The reduced/eliminated flow of fresh water from the Colorado River also had a major impact on the ecology of the upper end of the Gulf. It was formerly rich with shrimp and many fish species. Some...like the big totuavas...would enter that zone for their annual spawning cycles. When the nutrient rich inflows were cut off, everything went downhill. The overall ecology in that area is much different...and not for the good.
I also lived in southern Arizona for about 20 years, from the early 80's until I moved back to Utah in 2004. I revisited some of my old fave spots both along the Colorado River and along the upper western side of the Sea of Cortez. Appalling. Still some decent fishing for some species...in the salt water...but no fresh water at all below the border.
By agreement between the countries, the US does allow a certain amount of Colorado River water to cross the border...for Mexican farmers. But after that water has been used and recycled multiple times by US interests it is almost too salty and chemical-laden to grow most crops. Much of it is merely runoff water after having been used to water Arizona's cotton fields or alfalfa. It leeches out a lot of salt from the nasty desert ground and picks up herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers before draining off the fields and back into the river. It is almost a good thing that all that stuff does not drain into the otherwise clean Sea of Cortez.
Should we allocate more water to Mexico? Sure. That would be a humanitarian thing to do. But then we have to decide who to short on this side of the border. Virtually every drop of Colorado River water is already spoken for...with a long line of folks who want to fight over anything that might not be taken by those who own it.
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