NEW YORK — The Colorado River, a major freshwater source for over 40 million people in seven southwestern states and parts of northern Mexico, has lost 20% of its water levels over the past 22 years and environmentalists forecast it's going to get worse.
Farmers and other agriculture workers have been especially hit by the water loss as the fields have dried up, making it harder to cultivate crops and cattle.
Twenty-three years of drought conditions in the West and Southwest have resulted in the lowest water levels at the Hoover and Glen Canyon Dam reservoirs since they were filled. The Colorado River is now at the top of the country's most endangered rivers list, according to the non-profit American Rivers.
Working with conservationists, Bruchez installed five artificial riffles along a 12-mile stretch of the river. The riffles use cobbles at parts of the river that cascades down and promotes irrigation and invertebrate growth at low water level areas.Bruchez's family has also worked on restoring the soil so that it can make use of what little water it does get.
Paul Bruchez said since his family rebuilt a meadow using this drought-resistant flora, the livestock has been liking their feeds"significantly better." "We're actually implementing them kind of in real-time right now. If we weren't doing that, not only would it have a tremendous impact on the communities upstream of here, the agricultural communities, it [would have] a tremendous impact on the environment," Rice said.
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