Explore the Robot River

Photo: Paul Hermans

The Colorado River — the most important water source for 40 million people in the West — is draining. For a century, seven states engineered ways to wring ever more water from the river, defying all natural limitations. But now, the very water laws and policies that shaped progress are rendering the West more vulnerable to drought and less fit to adapt to climate change. Discover how the nation helped turn the Colorado into an artificial system by engineering water projects that now exacerbate instead of solve the problem.

LINK (via: Pro Publica)

Colorado River reaches the Gulf of California once more

Last month, water flowing in the Colorado River Delta completed the journey from its headwaters in the Colorado Rockies all the way to the Gulf of California for the first time since the late 1990s. The experimental flow is meant to help restore an ecosystem starved of water by over-use and dams for many decades.

New York-based photographer John Trotter spent 10 days at the Delta in Mexico to document the historic releases.

LINK (via:High Country News)

Raise the River vs. Move the Ocean

Robert Redford and Will Ferrell debate over the best way to restore the Colorado River Delta.

Explore America's Most Endangered River on Street View

Now with Google Street View, you can ride the whitewater rapids, cruise the sleepy river bends, and discover the side canyons that make the Colorado River a treasured resource.

LINK

TAPPED OUT -- The Upper Colorado River on the Brink

From The Story Group

Denver and the Front Range need more water, mainly for residential lawns. Their plan to take up to 20% more of the Upper Colorado and Fraser rivers, 80% in all, is pushing a stressed river ecosystem to the brink. Is residential landscaping worth the risk, or can conservation on the Front Range solve the problem?

America’s Most Endangered Rivers

The mighty Colorado lands on top of American River's 2013 list of America's Most Endangered Rivers.