GEF

Unit 1  |  Why Water Matters 24 The food we eat and the products we use are responsible for a surprisingly large amount of water consumption. According to water footprint researchers, over 600 gallons are needed to produce a single hamburger, while a cotton T-shirt requires over 500 gallons. WATER CONCEPTS: THE COLORADO RIVER The Colorado River flows 1,450 miles from the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of California, draining 246,000 square miles of the southwestern U.S., and northwest Mexico. This vitally important river supplies almost 40 million people with drinking water, irrigation water, and hydroelectricity. Over twenty-nine major dams, hundreds of miles of canals, and decades of contentious battles over competing uses have made the Colorado one of the most highly regulated rivers in the world. Colorado River water provides enormous benefits: irrigating the agriculturally vital Central Valley of California and providing drinking water and hydroelectric power to millions of people in Los Angeles, San Diego, and many other cities in the U.S. and Mexico. These benefits, as well as the freshwater and estuarine (where the sea meets the river and the salt water is diluted by the fresh water from the river) ecosystems that the Colorado River supports, are increasingly jeopardized by water flow reductions, siltation (sedimentary deposits that cause the water to become clogged) of reservoirs, and increased salinity. Water flow has been reduced so significantly that the Colorado River frequently does not reach the sea. Climate change is another factor that is impacting the Colorado—much of the region is suffering from a prolonged drought that is expected to worsen with a warming climate. Water scarcity, increasing demand, and overlapping uses and constituencies for water make the Colorado River a prime example of the challenges and vital importance of water sustainability.