From Hope to Reality: The Colorado River Flows to the Sea

The Colorado River estuary is a world-class treasure, and the cost of restoring it is small compared to its value. With collaboration, hard work, data and thoughtful efforts our hopes are becoming reality-and can be applied to estuaries around the world!
Mira en español: • De la esperanza a la r...
Learn more about Colorado River restoration at sonoraninsitute.org
Watch our earlier film on the environmental issues facing the Colorado River estuary, and our work to restore it for people, wildlife and local economies: • Restore the Colorado R...

[@greyworld2246]

"One could almost say, then, that the history of the Colorado River contains a metaphor for our time. One could say that the age of great expectations was inaugurated at Hoover Dam-a fifty-year flowering of hopes when all things appeared possible. And one could say that, amid the salt-encrusted sands of the river’s dried-up delta, we began to founder on the Era of Limits" -marc reisner, 1992

[@billrobbins5874]

Important to know we are still learning.

[@TheJoshScape]

One could say, you like to say one could say.

[@casienwhey]

It's a misnomer to even call the Colorado river a river anymore. It's now an irrigation canal, fully dammed and controlled. The environment was sacrificed for development.

[@thisone3519]

If we returned every river back to its natural state you would quickly realize how bad of an idea that is. They were developed for a reason

[@hc3203]

@@msp4383 both are right. No need to be condescending. The over farming are mostly to blame for the low levels of water. In a way us the consumers are to blame too. More blame should be towards those who consumes the most.

[@perryleduc1954]

@@thisone3519 why do you say that it's a bad idea to revert it back to its natural state and flow? Other than losing not to important farm land?

[@GhostOfJulesVerne]

Edward Abbey vibes.

[@thisone3519]

@@perryleduc1954 farm land is only important to keep the population from starving. Natural rivers like to flood, change course, erode soil, etc... thats ok if its in the middle of a natural area, but tends to cause problems in populated areas. Each circumstance is unique though. Unless you wanna depopulate the planet, some rivers will have to be developed

[@waynehooper9093]

Thank you for this report and all the work that has gone into habitat restoration. It could not have come a moment too soon as the Salton Sea ecosystem has been decimated since 2017 with the water diversion to San Diego. Please keep us updated.

[@tduenchan]

The Salton Sea was totally the result of irrigation run off. They need to do something to restore the habitat but it definitely isn’t restoring the runoff flow to the area

[@Cardelous]

Llego tarde pero celebro vuestro enorme trabajo!

[@abelflores1593]

Give us our water! Water is life to animals and plants

[@mwara2444]

Tell that to corporations, factory farms, and water bottling plants

[@stephenmerritt5750]

Who would have thought that California dreaming would have such an environmental impact

[@lindadechiazza2924]

Well those dreamers are leaving my state, more like locusts and they didn't take the hive-mind with them, alas.

[@JesusTorres-qr1gz]

Outstanding and impressive well organized documentary and all the manpower hours to bring back nature at it best, congratulations to each and everyone that one way or another made this possible, from the endless summer paradise Puerto Rico, Jesus Torres.

[@josenotario6567]

PRINCIPALMENTE ES EDUCAR A LA GENTE

[@danielkurtovic9099]

Please keep update. I get fingerscross in hope , that there will be arangemant to more water divert back into river and it flow 365 days.

[@SonoranInstituteFlix]

Thank you Daniel! Please follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, or sign up for our emails on our website to be sure you hear about water deliveries. They will not be at the scale of the pulse flow, but life sustaining.

[@danielkurtovic9099]

@@SonoranInstituteFlix - I will :) , fingerscross

[@googleaccount6761]

In a word, bravo!

[@WhatWeDoChannel]

It would be a good thing to let a little more water flow from the Colorado river to the delta. I know the water is used, but just a little more could make a big difference!

[@SonoranInstituteFlix]

Exactly! We know that restoration work can expand with small amounts of water, and it's possible through equitable water management decisions.

[@haroldsmith5150]

Problem is we can't severe drought they gotta hold that water

[@WhatWeDoChannel]

@@haroldsmith5150 I understand that, it probably mimics natural drought cycles anyway. Hopefully with the great precipitation California has been getting so far this season things will get back to normal soon!

[@haroldsmith5150]

@@WhatWeDoChannel California needs more the Reservoirs aren't close to half full

[@WhatWeDoChannel]

@@haroldsmith5150 yes, I’m praying for rain and more snow pack!

[@BRabbit716]

The Hoover dam is to blame

[@hc3203]

U would be surprised to hear it’s actually the farmers of California who are mostly responsible for the low levels of water. The dam helps prevent the natural seasonal flowing of the river

[@randlerobbertson8792]

A great watch, I wish such restorations like this, all the success in the world. . 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

[@hobamasucs]

Yes let's BlowUp all Dam's and Reservoirs , Let the Rivers Run Wild and enable Mexico to use more Colorado River water to FLUSH their Sewer systems(the river) . Wonderful, Glorious Idea !

[@deanfirnatine7814]

How about people in urban California and Las Vegas give up their lawns and other BS so the river runs again.

[@SonoranInstituteFlix]

The switch from lawns to more water-conscious landscaping is happening more and more frequently at both the personal, neighborhood and local gov't level. Our Growing Water Smart program encourages better policies and regulations: sonoraninstitute.org/card/gws/

[@dudentejas]

I hope someday the desire and political will are directed to the Rio Grande as well. My grandfather was born San Antonio del Bravo, Chihuahua on the opposite side of Candelaria, Texas. He showed me pictures of the Rio Grande from his youth. The once mighty Rio grande is but a distant memory today. The area nowadays is know as the Forgotten Reach, approx. 200 miles of rio between El Paso and Presidio Texas because of lack of water and ever encroaching salt cedar. The Rio today is but a 12 feet wide trench between between the two cities, EP and Candelaria. The same area I visit now in San Antonio del Bravo and Candelaria used to be fifty feet wide, and he told me that when my great grandfather was growing up the river was even larger. All started to change once elephant butte dam was created in early 1900s. As time went by less and less water filled the mighty river bed till eventually was bone dry, and would only fill up from the monsoon rains that would dump vast quantities of sediment from arroyos that the river could no longer push down stream due to the lack of velocity. With no consistent flows, nature began to encroach and shrink the river's width. Generations today only see a frequently dry riverbed south of Elephant Butte dam to EP and beyond, and this dry river is accepted as normal. They do not know this river was considered, as my grandfather put it, the American Nile. The thin green ribbon of immense vegetation and life flourishing amongst the parched desert. He said the Mexico and US government took their water rights without their consideration or for the natural environment. This area was left to die, and only be reinvigorated in Presidio where the Rio Conchos from Mexico joins starting the "second" Rio Grande. The river's wildlife that follows along the river road and beyond to Big Bend is now on life support from the meager flows Rio Conchos provides. I love this river very much. There is something about this river that I can't explain why I have immense passion. As with the Rio Colorado, I view rivers as living beings. I hope to see in my lifetime positive change for the Rio Grande too.

[@deschutesmaple4520]

Thank you for your contribution, it is very interesting. I share your dreams to bring these great rivers back to life, to once again be actual 'rivers'.

[@phoenixazronquillo3765]

When will the next water release be?

[@SonoranInstituteFlix]

We are expecting small amounts of water to be delivered in the spring of 2021.

[@SonoranInstituteFlix]

@Ana Daniela Orozco V. Thank you! Our restoration work is for la gente y la naturaleza. We are proud to do this. This spring we will launch online learning courses. Follow us on Facebook or Instagram for updates!

[@bryan565656]

Can’t imagine the heavy metals in that water.

[@gilcineicandido3561]

BRASIL 2021 ,November...

[@seanmiller9304]

Yay a little tiny trickle made it to the sea yup yip yipeee

[@johnkeviljr9625]

The water must flow.....................

[@jimpikoulis6726]

Only through technology are we able to relinquish the need for dams.

[@andrenewcomb3708]

The flood flows that gouged out the Grand Canyon would just spread out on that plain. Mexican agriculture has gobbled up what water is made available by Treaty. I would recommend a sort of eco-tourism with canals infiltrating on both sides of the delta BECAUSE ANY water reintroduced is going to invite marine life gnawing away at those deposits and ultimately bring Yuma a sea port. This I recommend BECAUSE Mexico is a friend who sends us winter foods. Those summers there are perilous and we ought to remember who our friends are.

[@lindadechiazza2924]

Mexican brings more than you have listed, and flooded out us with more than just water...

[@kenhunt5153]

Do not let Utah build the Lake Powell Pipeline.

[@kimberlypenner2136]

I live in Vegas so I know what I'm talking about there's a lot of water waste here

[@hugoaguiar4400]

I want to see steam ships navigating up stream to Yuma before I die ! Carpet bomb LA

[@lindadechiazza2924]

Stick your raza plans in your pipe and smoke it jugo

[@vm722]

Where there is greed. Things dry up.

[@lindadechiazza2924]

Mulholland in action

[@aenorist2431]

Aaand this is depressing, realizing that was 2 years ago.

[@SonoranInstituteFlix]

If you're looking for something more recent to cheer you up, watch this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fomlcpxreNqim5o. Water deliveries in the Colorado River delta brought 160+ days of flowing water and connected the river to the sea.

[@bccochrane1]

@@SonoranInstituteFlix thank you, we appreciate it 👍🏻

[@jarrodyuki7081]

well.............

[@davidfarrens3572]

So The estuary of the Colorado River is a sess pool. Why would anyone want to dump sewage into The most precious thing people must have. Water

[@anthonymartinez4307]

Rivers need to flow into the ocean to start a cycle the greedy energy and water authority has been getting rich while creating hazards throughout the blockages of rivers. Do you think the fish species that swim back up River are only doing it now? It’s a shame that people can’t see who’s been stealing water ( Las Vegas Nevada) they are over populated and have 50, million visitors throughout the year. They exceeded their percentage of water 50 times fold. Today we see the low water and they sure don’t stop building do they?

[@richdiana3663]

You can't give up hope if you plan to keep over breeding.

[@clockworkNate]

That's right! If people want more water to drink, then they need to drink more mountain dew! 😂

[@sm3675]

The population is decreasing. Stop bringing more immigrants if you want to demographics to be old

[@irisamanda3922]

I wish that the dams along the Colorado would be removed. Water intensive crops and giant cities do not belong in the desert. Every major tributary of the Colorado River is also dammed up. I would’ve loved to see the Colorado, and the Gila, at their prime before humans destroyed the ecosystems. I imagine the millions of acres of Riparian habitat that lined the rivers was an impressive sight to behold.

[@trwent]

Actually, there are no major dams on the Colorado proper above Lake Powell. Also, the Yampa River, which is a second-degree tributary of the Colorado (it is a tributary of the Green which is itself the Colorado's largest tributary) still runs free (and for God's sake, let's keep it that way!).

[@irisamanda3922]

@@trwent I hope they never put anymore dams on any more rivers in the West, and hopefully someday they’ll remove Glen Canyon dam, and free Glen Canyon from its watery grave.

[@elsheriffdeguanajuato8763]

What? Gulf of California? His thurth name is Sea of Cortez... 100% mexican...

[@themexicanfisherman7403]

Can’t fish where there’s no h2o 😢

[@jeffking5343]

Bring the sea to the river Quit being greedy

[@mattreynolds612]

Not no more ....

[@SonoranInstituteFlix]

Additional water deliveries took place for 164 days in 2021, and more water is expected under the international agreement, Minute 323. Read more here: sonoraninstitute.org/2021/spring-flows/

[@maxschickens3643]

e

[@paulmcmullan9931]

I'm a native English speaker and not interested in reading sub-titles.

[@dragonswing4787]

Then don't read them. The hard of hearing and people with processing issues need them.

[@LudwigVaanArthans]

So you're saying you are dumb? A fact that is punctured more by the fact Spanish is going to be the language of the majority in a few decades in many US states through simple demographics

[@Clearanceman2]

To be fair, if any water from the colorado reaches the sea, it's fresh water being wasted. The west needs every drop of that river.

[@judsonclayto7813]

Nimho. The west wants every drop and doesn't need irrigated lawns with treated water. I truly think that some sort of grey water plan for irrigating lawns would make a huge difference. So much water could be delayed on site from a monsoon summer event. There is plenty of water to give a base flow to an estuary. I'm not saying it should be the average rate of yesteryear or anywhere near the historical flooding that must have once occurred. But anyhey, could you imagine Idaho taking all of the water of the Columbia before it hits the ocean? I'm pretty sure Oregon would be rather disappointed and particularly tired of potatoes. I don't know if there was a major town nearby before it was sufficiently dammed. One can only imagine it literally dried up and/or stopped growing without water. The system is way more fair now than in the 1950's, I'd say. And lastly, the science is ever-evolving with each year's new data allowing for revisions to the master plan of what I consider to be one of our nation's top ten rivers and my 5th favorite.

[@trwent]

@@judsonclayto7813 The Columbia River does not flow through Idaho.