When I worked for the City of Toledo doing environmental education, it was a pretty urban situation. The park, Ottawa Park, had been there for 150 years, and was a gem in the midst of the city. The exception was the Ottawa River, which went through the park. We didn't think much of it at the time, but we weren't allowed to do much in the river because the E. coli counts were too high.
Fast forward to yesterday, where Mr W and I hopped on our bikes with the inner tube I bought recently, and rode over to Lee Martinez Park, to play in the Poudre River. People have been tubing the river for years, and this was our first go at it. We need another tube, as Mr W rode for short stretches, then I'd help him out of the river, we'd walk upriver and do it again. As we were getting ready to go back to the bikes, we saw this little stream in the shade that fed into the river, and we played there for 30 minutes or so. It was here that I thought about how great it is that there are a lot of people who want to protect this river and keep it clean. And also how great it was that it was easy to use the river. There's been some talk lately of changing the laws that currently let people use a waterway here in Colorado, even if it goes through private land. I don't think a person can own the ever-changing water of a river.
Water rights disputes have been going on for many years out west (and you are there!) It is a tough issue. There are old treaties in place between the US and Mexico guaranteeing a certain amount of Colorado river water to them. Some years the river does not even make it to Mexico.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note, on my way from Richmond VA to MN, I had a layover in Cincinati. Flew over the Ohio River. From the air it's color was shit brown. How sad some rivers have become. Here we treasure our St. Croix river, which forms the border between WI and MN. It is a designated Wild and Scenic River, and is still somewhat pristine.. Most of the other rivers here, namely Mississippi and Minnesota, are just streams of nutrients, algae and sludge. ARRRRRRRRG.
ReplyDeleteIt's shameful how much waterways are abused. I remember in the early 1980's when we went to New Hampshire for a summer trip. The water was "Class A", you could dip your cup in and drink it. It'd be crazy (even in Colorado, with Giardia all over the place) to do that now.
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