In an era of perpetual water shortages in the southwest, Dr. Charles Drake, a professor in the earth sciences department, delivered a timely lecture on water use and management titled "The Colorado River."
In the first of a series of nine public lectures on environmental sustainability, Drake presented the scientific aspects of natural resource management to an audience of 60 yesterday afternoon at the Thayer School of Engineering.
Drake recounted the history of water use and management on the Colorado.
"Politics reflects public attitudes, and the fate of the Colorado is determined by politics," Drake said.
He described the career of John Lesley Powell, who made the first attempt at water management on the Colorado in the 1880s.
Powell proposed to the Senate in 1888 to settle land according to the potential for irrigation, Drake said, but the prevailing attitude of manifest destiny felt that "water followed the plow."
Although the government disregarded Powell's advice, "Powell's legacy lives on," Drake said. "The Colorado is probably the most managed river in the world."
Water management, partially controlled by the Bureau of Reclamations, is so strict that, although 15 million cubic acres of water flows down the Colorado, only a trickle reaches the sea, Drake said.
Another problem confronting cities from Albuquerque to Los Angeles which draw water from the Colorado is that water distribution among the cities is based on outdated river flow statistics from 1922, Drake said.
"An analysis of tree rings shows that the original water pact was drafted after a wet season," Drake said. "The cubic acreage [of yearly water flow] of the Colorado is more like 13.5 cubic acres than 15 cubic acres."
Further problems that face the Colorado include reduced water capacity in dammed lakes due to silt deposition and unused irrigation rights on undeveloped Indian reserves that once used will further deplete the river.
Meanwhile, water usage continues to grow. "San Diego is using up 600,000 acre feet, but it only has priority on 150,000 acre feet," Drake said.
"A water deficit of 750,000 acre feet is expected by the year 2000," according to Drake who said the Colorado would have to increase flow by 10 percent to cover the deficit.
The lecture series will continue next Thursday with a lecture by Dr. Andrew Rosenberg of the National Marine Fisheries Service on "Sustainable Yield: The Fisheries Experience."
"The lectures will explore dimensions of population, resources and the environment," said Daniel Lynch, a professor of Engineering Sciences and the organizer of the series.
