Environmental Health paper

This article is written by Holliday Moore, reports on the current and projected status of the Colorado River. The water level at Lake Mead has dropped for the past 15 years (Moore). The readings of the water level as the article was posted, read 1, 801 acre-feet. Projected effect of a further drop by six feet will trigger the implementation of cutbacks to about 7.5 million acre-feet of water propagated to the River’s lower basin that includes California, Nevada and Arizona by the Federal Bureau of Reclamation (Moore). From the stipulations of the River Compact, seven states have shared 15 million acre-feet of water on an annual basis. As Bob Barrett, an affiliate of the Central Arizona Project, explains, the compact authors did not know that they were in a wet cycle. He further explains that leaders from Arizona have operated on the perception that they are in a desert, with scarce water and the possibility of a drought. A reduction in allocations will have varying effects within different communities and farmlands in Arizona.

The effects of this shortage will greatly impact about half of the agricultural pool which is perceived to reach 300, 000 acre-feet in 2017, as explained by Tom Buschatzke, the Director of Arizona Department of Water Resources. This will definitely have a negative impact on the numerous farmers whose crops are the epitome of the country’s economy. The Arizona Farm Bureau reported that agribusiness added about $12.4 billion to the state’s economy (Moore). As a result of this allocation, Arizona has advanced agricultural systems that have helped it scale greater agricultural achievements. For instance, the early stages of this development had farmers in Arizona invest in laser levelling technology through which uniform flow of water through irrigation systems could be achieved in farms. This and more techniques have made farmers in Arizona to become tolerant to the draught. Bruce Hallin, the Director of Water Rights and Contracts at Salt River Project, suggests that this difference is as a result of the fact that farmers in Arizona recognize the arid environment they reside in.

However, several prominent individuals in Arizona believe that healthy forests are linked to healthy water. Research from the Nature Conservancy and other state recognized bodies have pushed the federal forest service to initiate the approval of the Four Forest Restoration Initiative. Additionally, the erosion that directly goes to the water reserves are costly to remove (Moore). The article highlights a number of mechanisms that can be utilized to drive water conservation a notch higher (Moore). It is important, as the draught lingers, that conservation be encouraged to save the waters. More and more forces must join hands to propagate conservation initiatives. It has been revealed by the Department of Water Resource survey that Arizona seems to be the safest territory (Moore). However, the danger posed by the draught has been predicted to take longer than it is anticipated.

This report uses a number of quotes and personalized perceptions on what should be done to save the Colorado River. One fundamental and critical factor that is not well represented in this article is an argument supporting its central idea. As the title of the article suggests, the primary aim of the article is to suggest initiatives put in place to conserve the Colorado River. On the contrary, the author describes the current situation and a brief background of Colorado River and usage patterns. Additionally, the article highlights a large number of quotes to depict perceptions of people rather than actual initiatives that describe actual efforts to drive conservation. In this context, the article does not excel in satisfying the subject of its title. Very few aspects of conservation are covered within the article in contrary to what the reader would expect.

Reference

Moore, H. Water: Conserving the Colorado River's Liquid Gold. 26 4 2015. 29 4 2015.