Troubles in the Headwaters

Earlier this summer I stood near the river at the start of the 15-Mile Reach and watched the wind push the surface of the Colorado upstream. It was a striking thing to see, and it was only possible because the flow was so low. A few hundred feet away, the agricultural canals were running full and swift. That contrast is the clearest picture I can give of what this year has looked like here. The demand has not changed. The river no longer has the water to give the way it once did. Will we shape our decisions honestly around that? Will we face it plainly and plan for a future that lives within our limits to growth?

I came to Colorado to be at the headwaters because I expected upstream and downstream water conflicts to define the future of the West. I did not expect that future to arrive this quickly, or that in-state diversions would weigh so heavily on the balance.