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Water
Articles and Information in the News Media |
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The following are examples of news articles that
appeared in the local Colorado Papers during the height of the drought
in 2002. While they were good articles, they did not tell the whole
story.
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"Grim
Water outlook"
Rocky Mountain News, 8/7/2002, Jerd Smith
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Grim
list of drought stats ticked off at Capitol Hearing.
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Free-flowing
waters that help keep Colorado’s farms and cities alive are down as
much as 75 percent this year, and the state will enter the winter
season with dozens of empty storage and irrigation reservoirs.
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Nine
cities and one county have asked for and received approval from the
state engineer to procure emergency water supplies.
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Half
of the winter-wheat crop has been lost.
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State
officials are scrambling to make sure enough water flows out of the
state to meet legal obligations to Kansas and other states.
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Although
Denver and Aurora currently have adequate water stored in their
reservoirs, officials fear that reservoir levels will reach new lows
by spring.
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If
Colorado experiences another dry winter, Denver may have to implement
a Phase 3 drought response next summer, triggering a series of harsh
measures, including a ban on all outdoor water use.
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Aurora
would likely do the same.
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The
state also would like to see existing dams expanded, a process that is
usually faster and less costly than building new dams.
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"Streams
of consciousness"
Rocky Mountain News, 7/18/2002, Todd Hartman
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Across Colorado, flows are down
anywhere from 50 percent to 90 percent from historical averages.
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On Wednesday [7/17/2002] Clear
Creek was flowing at about 67 cubic feet per second through Golden.
Historic averages for mid July are about 400 cubic feet per second,
said Jack Byers an assistant state engineer for the Colorado Division
of Natural Resources.
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river [Animas River], typically flowing at about 1,000 cubic feet per
second in July is down to 153. he [Tom Huston, water and wastewater
utilities manager – Durango] said…
OTHER
QUOTES:
One researcher doing climatological
studies of tree rings over the last several hundred years, noted in recent
newspaper article, , ;
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"Precious snowpack
zeroed out"
Denver Post 6/2/2002 |
"Aurora's water use cut by 20%"
Denver Post 6/7/2002 |
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Will the Drought Continue?
As the drought in the western United
States gets worse, water is on the minds of everyone affected. Questions like,
"How long will it [the drought] last?" and "How bad can it
get?" are on everyone's lips. Experts and laypeople alike offer opinions
and thoughts. Is there any one right answer?
Can the western United States run
out of water? If so, what can we do? How much can we cut back? Will the
"good old days" of seemingly abundant water return?
How Bad will Our Water Quality Get?
Around the world, even in areas where water
supply is not a problem like it is in arid regions, clean water is not always
readily available. The water in the rainforest of the Amazon Basin is becoming
increasingly laden with sediments, ash and other chemicals. In many areas with
abundant physical water supplies, water quality is becoming a problem.
Another good example of a potential water
supply problem is in the middle east. Much of the fresh water in Saudi Arabia is
obtained using desalinization, which is very energy intensive. As energy
supplies decrease because of peak oil, can this
water supply be maintained? What happens if it can not be maintained?
The middle east oil producing countries are
also using millions of barrels of water per day as injection water into the oil
reservoirs. This water can be cleaned to an extent as it is reused, but it is
still having a dramatic impact on the underground aquifers some of which are
also used for drinking water supplies.
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What Can I Do?
One of the things that we can all do is become
informed about the basic concepts and terminology. Decisions that are
being made now, impact our lifestyle for years into the future. These
decisions are too important to be left to governments, environmentalists, cities,
water boards, federal agencies or farmers, without
knowledgeable public
input.
The use of water involves three
things (especially in an arid climate) :
Physical Supply, i.e. the water has to be physically in
the stream, lake etc.
Legal Availability, you need to have the legal right to
use the water.
Multiple Use, after you use the water, it is used by
others as well.
These three concepts and more are explained
in a simple to understand, straightforward book entitled, Understanding Water
Rights and Conflicts by Herbert C. Young. Written during a time of
water planning and development in Colorado, it describes why we are having
major problems with water supplies in the Western United States and around
the globe.
Sincerely
H. Court Young
Author and Publisher PS: You can order this invaluable book or download this book in EBook format
by clicking the appropriate button below. We use PayPal as our secure online
transaction service, and can take Visa and MasterCard. Just click the "Buy
Now" button and follow the directions. |
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Click on the button below to order your copy of this
book - for only $19.95 plus $3.75 shipping in the United States.
You can also order this book as a downloadable Adobe PDF
EBook - for only $9.95 - with no shipping!
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ISBN: 0-1-893478-07-6, 340 pages, Softcover |
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