Colorado
The dying River
The Colorado River once stretched over 2,000 kilometers, from the snow-capped slopes of the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of California, across the western United States and Mexico. But the river has been drying up since the 80s.
There was a time when the Colorado River snaked its way across the western United States and Mexico for over 2,000 kilometres - from the snow-capped peaks of the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of California. Since the 1980s, however, the river has been seeping into the Sonora desert and barely reaches the delta in the South. To blame are large-scale agriculture and the diversion of the water to large conurbations like Phoenix and Las Vegas, which have significantly lowered the water levels and altered the river's course.
Today, some 44 million people across the region are dependent on water from the Colorado river but reduced snowfall in the Rockies and an extended drought across western states, both caused by climate change, are wreaking havoc along its banks.
Leticia carefully pulls her fishing net out of the water as she slowly makes her way along the river in her aging fishing boat. Her efforts are largely in vain as the nets contain little more than twigs and other flotsam. From time to time she has to scoop water out of the bottom of her boat which is starting to leak.
Leticia Galavis Sainz (51), from the Cucupa tribe, fishes in the Colorado River which is polluted by agricultural run off.
As the sun sets she heads back toward an improvised jetty that almost reaches across the river and walks home to El Mayor, an indigenous reservation in the Mexican desert, with an empty bucket.
Long before the arrival of the white man, the Cocopah (or 'people of the river') lived from fishing in the river but now it is disappearing and Leticia and the other fishermen from her community have been reduced to trying their luck in the agricultural run-off that is high in pesticides and other toxic substances. Once you get to the mouth of the river in the Gulf of California there is little trace of the once mighty waterway. What used to be a broad delta that saw waves of migrating birds enjoying its rich ecosystem is now a salty desert. The sea is encroaching on the delta, driving back flora and fauna that are not adapted to the such high levels of salinity.
On the upper reaches of the river, the falling water levels are also clearly visible. Lake Mead, a reservoir formed by the Hoover Dam and America's largest, is now a shadow of its former size. Looking across the reservoir from Las Vegas one can clearly make out the high water mark at a milky-white line along its shores. It has lost two thirds of its volume over
Migrant farm workers from Mexico collect cotton leftovers which will be sold as second grade cotton after the harvest. Cotton consumes a lot of water and has been criticised for intensifying drought.
Jesus Colunga (60) on the banks of the dry Colorado River, near the US border. In his youth he often swam here. Only a few kilometres after the border, the Colorado is no longer visible. All water is diverted to canals for agriculture and to supply major cities such as Los Angeles and Phoenix.
The All American Canal, which diverts water from the Colorado River, is the only source of water for the Imperial Valley in California.
the past years and in a few years' time, water levels will be too low to drive the dam's turbines to produce electricity. Local authorities are anxious as most of them derive some 90% of their municipal water from Lake Mead. In the spring of 2022 levels hit another record low, exposing one of the water pumps above the water's surface. Luckily the water management company had installed a deeper pump that was brought on stream just in time to avoid serious shortages. At current rates it is entirely possible that Lake Mead might dry up and disappear altogether. According to a recent study published in the magazine Science, climate change is the main cause of the Colorado's decline. Chris Milly and Krista A. Dunne, the study's authors, calculate that the river's levels were down by some 1.5 billion cubic metres of water, approximately the annual water usage of 10 million Americans. The water cycle is caught in a vicious circle. Reduced snowfall in the Rockies, caused by climate change, leads to less sunshine being deflected back into the atmosphere which in turn causes the ground to warm more quickly and water to evaporate at a
Alfredo Fierro (left, Eagle Eye Honey) and his collaborators Ubaldo and José wearing protective suits while tending bees in the Arizona desert near Wenden. For several years, the men have had to provide water for the bees in troughs, otherwise the colonies would not be able to survive since there has been less and less rainfall.
Exposed tyres used to demarcate moorings at the Bullfrog Marina on the northern part of Lake Powell. Sediment deposits on the tyres indicate the lake's former water level. Since 2022, ferry services to Bullfrog Marina have been suspended as mooring has become impossible.
The Colorado River delta, near San Felipe, Mexico
Conservation Workers from the NGO ProNatura repair a broken pipe near Algodones, where they are trying to reinstate endemic plants.
faster rate. Ultimately this means that less water ends up in the reservoir. According to Milly and Dunne, every degree of warming weather causes the volume of water flowing through the Colorado river to shrink by some 9.3% . In Las Vegas there is a growing awareness of just how serious the lack of water has become. As of 2026 there will be a ban on the planting of natural lawn in the city and even today there are tight restrictions on when and how much gardens and lawns can be watered. The local water board has its own enforcement teams that make sure the law is obeyed. Nicole Carrier is one of these enforcement officers. She drives her official vehicle around the suburbs of Las Vegas, looking for people who are overwatering. A telltale sign can be something as innocuous as a rivulet of water that leads her to its source. Timing is of the essence when she comes across someone breaking the law. After switching on her emergency lights she jumps out of her car, armed with her mobile phone, and starts to film the infringement.
Often it can be something as innocent as a leaking tap or an incorrectly timed sprinkler. On her onboard
computer she's able to check if the person is a first-time offender. If that is the case, they are let off with a caution. Repeat offenders can expect a hefty fine. Since the launch of the enforcement agency, some 16,000 infringements have been logged, two thousand of which led to fines totaling half a million dollars. According to current prognoses, the
Colorado River will continue to lose water as a result of climate change. People like Leticia and her fellow villagers, who depend on the river for their livelihoods, are at the sharp end of this development.
Antonia Torres Gonzales stands on the banks of the Colorado River wearing traditional Cucupah beaded robes. Gonzales fears that with the disappearance of the water and the associated dwindling fish stocks, the culture of the Cucupah will also disappear as people leave the villages to find jobs in the cities. To counteract the decline of culture, she passes on knowledge of traditional crafts to younger generations, organises traditional rituals andparticipates in conferences.
Leonard Sloan, checks the water level of a stormwater storage pond on rangeland near the Grand Canyon on the Navajo Reservation. In just a few more weeks, the water will be used up by free-grazing cows and sheep, and then he will have to truck in water for his animals every week.
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