What Would Happen if the Colorado River Dried Up?
By Aidan Gossett, WELLKIND Forestry Intern
Aidan Gossett was an intern for WELLKIND Forestry during our summer 2021 session, exploring the effects of droughts and other important environmental issues.
In his presentation to me and my fellow WELLKIND Forestry interns, Dr. James Powell explained, “If the Colorado River were to drop even by 10 percent, there would be a water fight in the Southwest United States.” This means that states such as Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and even parts of California would be clashing with each other for the water and services that are provided by the 1,450-mile-long river
How Would This Happen?
The Colorado River is in danger of water levels dropping due to climate change. Climate change is drying out many bodies of water because it increases evaporation.
The cause of climate change is well known: Humans are releasing carbon dioxide at an unhealthy rate from such things as automobiles and fossil fuel power plants. This carbon dioxide is created when humans burn carbon, bonding two oxygen atoms together. Carbon dioxide then gets released into the atmosphere, where it participates in the Greenhouse Gas Effect. The Greenhouse Gas Effect is a natural phenomenon that reflects thermal energy back at Earth. Without it, heat would be lost to space. However, this effect is being intensified due to the excessive release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. More heat gets trapped in the atmosphere, leading to increased temperatures and increased evaporation.
Why Does The Colorado River Matter?
Like I said earlier, if the Colorado River were to drop by 10 percent, there would be a water fight in the Southwest U.S. This water fight could lead to millions of people losing drinking water. Without drinking water, people will be uprooted from their homes to find new ones with drinking water, or drinking water will be rerouted from other places, leading to decreases in drinking water over there. A decrease in the amount of water in the Colorado River can also limit the output of electricity from the Hoover Dam. The Hoover Dam supplies the electricity of people from California, Nevada, and Arizona. It’s one of the largest energy sources and produces “about 4.3 billion kilowatt-hours of hydroelectric power each year…enough to serve 1.3 million people” (USBR).
Why Aren’t People Doing More About Climate Change?
Fun fact: roughly every scientist agrees that climate change is real. The only reason why more isn’t being done about climate change is the fact that the media presents a “false balance” when it comes to climate change. Media outlets portray climate change as an issue that is split 50/50, in which half of climate scientists believe in climate change and half don’t. This creates a perception that climate change isn’t an agreed-upon topic, which just isn’t true. In fact, according to Dr. James Powell, “climate change is the most unanimously agreed-upon thing in science.”
How Can We Limit Climate Change?
Although we as individuals can take actions to limit climate change, the real solution‒‒according to Dr. James Powell‒‒is government action. “Vote for politicians that believe in climate change,” he said. One such way is through unified global action, such as the Paris Climate Agreement. The world really needs more regulatory policies and agreements to limit the effects of climate change. In fact, if we don’t get this under control during the 2020s, we may see irreversible effects such as the Colorado River drying up, according to Dr. James Powell. The best way that you can take action is by voting people into office that care about climate change. We have already seen what poor government leadership can do under presidents like Trump. He rolled back regulations on mercury emissions and other toxins from power plants. Trump also removed the US from the Paris Agreement, which if followed, would lower the global warming temperature to 1.5°C above pre-industrial times. The Paris Agreement, if followed by all countries, is a major step towards mitigating climate change. To sum up what you can do, make sure to protest and vote environmentally friendly politicians into office.
Further Reading
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on the Hoover Dam