On Nov 9, 2007, at 5:56 PM, wrote: > >> Also, there is a treaty between some Western US states about how to >> divide >> the water from the Colorado river, and IIRC California has been >> using much >> more than its agreed-upon share of it for quite a while, and the >> other >> states are starting to complain louder. > > Re-stated accurately, California has received more than its quota of > Colorado River water for many years because the upstream parties > did'nt need the water. That's about over, due to growth of said > parties. Water distribution intra California is a political > football, and > more of a worry than the absolute supply, at least near term. Even more interestingly, a researcher a couple of years ago figured out that a small tributary of the Colorado actually *is* in Colorado (previously it was believed that the Colorado river started West of Colorado (the state) over in Utah. He immediately published grandiose plans for a privately-funded pipeline from the northeast corner of Colorado (the state) up through Wyoming and back into Denver, for pumping *Colorado's* share of the Colorado River AROUND the Rocky Mtns, over then in Wyoming, and down into the Denver Metropolitan area. Right now, it looks like the guy's dream is not realistic. But in theory, Colorado now also could make a claim to some of the Colorado River, for the first time in recent history. (Since it's just barely into the state, and a small tributary, the likelihood that a) people aren't already taking some water out but thought they weren't on the Colorado River, and b) that anyone will be able to take out much water at that point, anyway... is very very low. If it weren't for Glen Canyon dam and Hoover Dan, as well as the entire rest of the Colorado River System, managed by the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation -- most of Nevada and Southern California would be barren uninhabitable wasteland. -- Nate Duehr nate@natetech.com -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist