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Upper Colorado: A River on the Brink

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DubV134
Posts: 1541 - Karma: 690
i study resource management at school and another student showed us this in class today. take a look at the video and take a look at how you live your life

Apr 12 2012 8:57PM
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McFellon
Posts: 1841 - Karma: 2,005
I think it's sad how such a large and important river doesn't even make it to the ocean anymore.
I'll be studying something close to what you're doing now next year. Fortunately water use at that scale isn't an issue in the East where I live, so I never really think about it unless it's brought up in Trout or videos like this. Here, the main watershed stressors are pollution and habitat degradation, which can be mostly solved by planting trees and passing stricter legislation, but out there, you can't tell people to stop using water. I wish more people would be aware of how much of a limited resource water is. Telling people that using less water is bad is one thing, but showing them why will hopefully help.
Apr 12 2012 9:15PM
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bigbromskier
Posts: 1175 - Karma: 330
planting Kentucky Bluegrass in arid regions is so ridiculous. it's like planting a palm tree in Colorado, it's just not meant to be there. There are tons of other native turfgrasses that you can use in arid climates; they aren't as good-looking, but for something that is hardly used and purely aesthetic in most cases, using turf with less water requirements is not a big deal. Probably the biggest reason i despise las vegas; who puts a golf course in the desert??? Fools.

This is gonna be a huge huge issue in 10 years.
Apr 12 2012 9:41PM
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DubV134
Posts: 1541 - Karma: 690
those plus other major issues. the labyrinth of locks and dams that have been constructed on all large rivers has metaphorically frozen them in place. sediment/nutrients settle in the pools above a lock or dam and so a river is essentially raped of everything it carries after a series of 10 or 15 locks. (guess who pays to have the sediment dug out of the pools above a lock or dam)... but so all that good stuff that should be flowing downstream isnt - the reason why New Orleans is sinking, the entire region is the delta for the mississippi
Apr 12 2012 9:51PM
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B-runge
Posts: 16558 - Karma: 361
this grinds my gears

I'm going to school next year to hopefully further my knowledge on issues like this
Apr 12 2012 10:20PM
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Amadeus.
Posts: 3050 - Karma: 382
shit man.

Maybe when the oceans start to rise we should just drink it down lol, but seriously is amazing how much water we consume and use.
Apr 12 2012 10:35PM
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DubV134
Posts: 1541 - Karma: 690
beat bump


Apr 13 2012 10:12AM
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Mr.Turtle
Posts: 3690 - Karma: 96
somebody get this man a nobel prize
Apr 13 2012 10:16AM
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JamesR
Posts: 3396 - Karma: -12
People have no concept of the true cost of their water usage because it's obscured by the government. The government controls water and as such, its cost has no reflection on its actual worth. The quickest way to save rivers is to sell them to private individuals or groups. Private owners would be as likely to let sell their water to the point at which it runs dry than you are to break down your house and sell the parts.
Apr 13 2012 10:28AM
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miroz
Posts: 10333 - Karma: 3,945
Seemingly ideal solution: Tell Denver to use less water.

Denver's response: fuck you, we have to make more money to pay for all our shit, so we need the water to make the money. Cue legislation. Cue diversions. Done.

This shit sucks. Fuck resource depletion. Our way of life depends on using more and more of what we can't have more of. It's kind of embarrassing; we don't deserve that percentage of these resources.
Apr 13 2012 10:36AM
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miroz
Posts: 10333 - Karma: 3,945
Remember, though, while watering lawns may be the one of the most ridiculous uses of water there, growing industrial and manufacturing sectors require increasing amounts of water, too, much more than reduction in lawn watering would create. I bet that's a big part of the demand as well.
Apr 13 2012 11:07AM
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bermbuster49
Posts: 7445 - Karma: 90
jeaaa saw them in concert i second this bump
Apr 13 2012 11:17AM
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Benji.
Posts: 1146 - Karma: 88
Colorado is just not meant to have lawns. That's all there is to it. I understand watering a garden but definitely not a lawn.
Apr 13 2012 12:06PM
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B-runge
Posts: 16558 - Karma: 361
i think the vid said that 60% of the water in denver was being used for lawns
Apr 15 2012 11:52AM
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miroz
Posts: 10333 - Karma: 3,945
My bad. That's fucked up.
Apr 15 2012 10:46PM
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caucasian_chad
Posts: 4078 - Karma: 3,625
This makes me glad I live in MN, we have essentially an unlimited supply of water here.
Apr 15 2012 11:09PM
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JIBpsy^^
Posts: 2851 - Karma: 36
This really hits home for me because i live in summit county Colorado. The Lake here in summit, Lake Dillon, is Denver's largest water source. Denver water is almost unanimously hated in the community for a variety of reasons. 1. they closed the road ontop of the damn for like 3 months because of concerns about terrorists that were totally unfounded. It was 2 dudes filming a music video on the damn during a snow storm. I use that road every day to get to school. Its one of 3 roads that connect the 2 halves of the county. 2. We in summit county legally cant take a drop of water from the upper blue above the damn. The Upper blue is the river that founded Breckenridge. It is in our history. 3. they routinely miscalculate runoff levels and just open the floodgates nearly flooding communities around the lower blue. 4. They displaced the old town of dillon which is the first town in the area. Its now under water. 5 They suck in general.

Denver is so arid. people need to realize they cannot have green lawns in an arid place.
Apr 16 2012 12:29AM
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lands11
Posts: 1818 - Karma: 1,677
Threads for when I'm off mobile.
Apr 16 2012 12:30AM
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