ColoradoRiverReport

WenLu

Mrs.Horner
APEnvironmentalScience
Period1
January26,2015

I.

ColoradoRiver
A. TherearesevenstatesthatrelyontheColoradoRiverforwatersince
1922.Colorado,NewMexico,Arizona,Nevada,Wyoming,andCalifornia
apportiontheirwateraccordingtotheneedsofeachstate.

B. Waterisdividedbetweenstatesthroughtwodifferentdivisions,oneisthe
upperdivisionandtheotheristhelowerdivision.Colorado,NewMexico,
Utah,andWyomingareallapartofthetheupperdivision.Thelower
divisionincludesNevada,Arizona,andCalifornia.Thisdivisionhelpsthe
statesconservewateranddepletetheresources.ThestatesintheUpper
Basinarerequiredtonotdepletetheriverflowbelow7,500,000acrefeet
intheperiodoftenyears.Thelowerbasinusesjustasmuchwaterso

thereneedstobestandardsonhowmuchwaterthestatescanuse.

C. TheColoradoRivercomesfromtheLaPoudrePass.Themouthofthe
riveropensintotheGulfofCalifornia.Thisisthemajorsourceofthe
ColoradoRiver,although12%ofthewaterdoescomefromrainfall.
D. TheLawoftheRiverisbasicallyallthecompacts,federallaws,court
decisions,contracts,andregulatoryguidelinesofthetheColoradoRiver.
Thedivisionsbetweentheupperandlowerdivisionsisdescribedinthe
ColoradoRiverCompactof1922.Itgavetherightsforbothdivisionsto
use7.5millionacrefeetofrivereachyear.OtherthingsliketheBoulder
CanyonProjectActof1982,theCaliforniaSevenPartyAgreementof
1931,TheMexicanWaterTreatyof1944,UpperColoradoRiverBasin
Compactof1948,ColoradoRiverStorageProjectof1956,TheArizonav.

CaliforniaU.SSupremeCourtDecisionof1964,andTheColoradoRiver
BasinProjectActof1968areapartofthe"LawoftheRiver".

E. BecausetheColoradoRiverisamajorresourceformostofthe
southwesternstates,therearequiteafewenvironmentalandquality
issues.Sincethestatesaretakingsomuchwater,someofthehabitatsfor
nativespeciesthatrelyontheColoradoRiverarethreatened.Thiscould
leadtoanincreaseinendangeredspeciesorevenextinctspecies.Since
thestatesaredepletingwateratsucharapidrate,thewaterqualityhas
alsobeencompromised.Therearedifferentenvironmentalproblems
alongdifferentpartsoftheriverbecausetheColoradoRiverissovast
(1,450miles).Itdependsonwhereyouarealongtheriverandtheseverity
ofwaterdepletioninthatarea.Issueslikesalinity,sediment,andmetals
havebecomemajorissuesbecausetheColoradoRivercannotmeetthe

stateswaterdemandsalongwiththeenvironmentaldemands.Thereis
notenough.
F. AlthoughthedamsalongtheColoradoRiverdoplayasignificantrolein
controllingtheusageofwater,therearesomedetrimentaleffectsofthe
damsaswell.Thedamscreatedeepreservoirs,butwaterqualityis
affectedbecauseofthis.Duetoitsaffectonwaterquality,thenative
speciesarealsoaffected.Usingdamstodecreasewaterflowcausesless
downstreamflow.Thiscantrapsedimentandnutrientsthataresuppose
tobetravelingdownstreambutnowcantbecauseofthedams.This
affectsthespeciesandplantsthatrelyondownstreamflowtocreatethe
environmentsthattheylivein.Speciesthatarentadaptedruntheriskof
becomingendangeredorevenextinctbecausedamschangingthewater
qualityandhabitats.

II.

SouthernNevada
A. SouthernNevadareliesheavilyontheColoradoRiverforwater.Withlittle
tonorainfallannually,theColoradoRiveris90%ofSouthernNevadas
waterresources.Theother10%comesfromwellsthatClarkCountyisnot
inchargeof.Mostofthesewellsareonprivatepropertiesandhavetheir
ownsystemtopumpwaterfromthewell.
B. WaterreclamationisextremelyimportantinSouthernNevadabecausewe
cantrelymuchonrainfallforourwaterresources.Usingwater
reclamationandreusehashelpedSouthernNevadanotdepleteits

resources.SouthernNevadarecycleswatereitherdirectlyorindirectly.
Whenwaterisdirectlytreated,itgoesthroughaprocesswhichwater
flowsaretreated,thenusedfornonpotablethings.Whentreatingwater
indirectly,wastewateristreatedinhighlevelsandthenitisreturnedto
LakeMead.Agallonofwateristreatedforeverygallonofwaterreturned
tothelake.IndirecttreatmentisthemainwaythatLasVegastreatstheir
water.
C. Therearetwocrucialactsforwaterqualityandsafety.TheyareThe
CleanWaterAct(CWA)andTheSafeDrinkingWaterAct(SDWA).The
SafeDrinkingWaterActistheprimaryone.Itcontrolswaterpollutionand
waterqualitystandards.ThisactensuresthatAmericanshavesafewater
toconsume.TheEPAsetsthestandardsforstates,localities,andwater
suppliestoensurethattheyfollowthesestandards.The1939Nevada
UndergroundWaterActgavetheStateEngineercompletejurisdictionof
thegroundwaterinNevada.
D. AlthoughtherearentanymajorthreatstothewaterqualityinSouthern
Nevada,thereareminoronesthatweshouldwatchoutfor.Bottledwater
hassomecontaminantsinit,likealgae,cryptosporidium,fluoride,giardia,
hardwater,lead,MTBE,perchlorate,pharmaceuticals,pinkBacteria,
quaggamussels,andTrihalomethanes.Thesethingsdontcauseany
healthrisksbecausethereissuchasmallamountofthem,butweshould
beawareoftheseproblemsincaseiteverbecomesathreat.

E. Thereisamethodcallultravioletdisinfectionthatcanhelpwhenlooking
forcontaminants.Methodslikethiswillhelpfindcontaminantsandreduce
pathogensinthewatersupply.Thesecontaminantsandpathogenscan
causewaterrelatedillnessessoitisimportanttofindmethodsthathelp
decreasethechanceofthat.
F. Therearemanywaysthatwecankeepourwatersafe.Recyclingitems
willreducetheamountofwastethatendsupinthewaterandpolluteit.By
reducingtheuseofchemicalsandencouragingproperdisposalof
hazardousmaterials,therewillbeadecreaseincontaminationofwater
supply.Therearemanychemicalsinthefertilizersthatweuse,so
keepingfertilizerrunofftoaminimumwillprotectthewaterfrombeing
contaminatedwithchemicals.Mostimportantly,reducingtheamountof
waterweuse.Everyonetendstooverusewaterandifweencouragethe
conservationofwaterandacknowledgethefactthatthereisntenough
watertosustainthecommunityifwedonotlearnhowtoconserve,the
watersupplywilllastmuchlonger.
G. Onepersonusesaround80to100gallonsofwateraday.Thatisonly
oneperson.Imaginetheentirepopulationswaterusage.Thatsalotof
water.SouthernNevadaisgrowinginitspopulationbutalsoinitswater
demand.TheSouthernNevadaWaterAuthoritypredictsthatthereisnt
enoughwatertomeetthedemandthrough2060.TheSouthernNevada
WaterAuthorityistryingtocomeupwithawaytoconservewater.

WorksCited
Triedman,Natalie.
EnvironmentandEcologyoftheColoradoRiverBasin
.Denver,CO:
ColoradoGeologicalSurvey,2001.
EnvironmentandEcology
.Web.25Jan.
2015.
"ReclaimedWater."
SNWA
.N.p.,n.d.Web.25Jan.2015.
"WaterSources."
SouthernNevadaWaterAuthority
.SWNA,n.d.Web.25Jan.2015.
"River."
SaveTheColorado
.N.p.,n.d.Web.25Jan.2015.
"LawoftheRiver."
LawoftheRiver
.ArizonaWater,n.d.Web.25Jan.2015.
"Laws,Regulations,Treaties."
Water
.EPA,n.d.Web.24Jan.2015.
"TenWaystoKeepOurWaterCleanGlobally."
HomeGuides
.N.p.,n.d.Web.25Jan.
2015.
"WaterResourcePlan."(n.d.):n.pag.
WaterResourcePlan
.SouthernNevadaWater
Authority.Web.25Jan.2015.