The colorado is now the most endangered river in america. Despite record drought, the water is being used at the same rate as ever by industry and major cities across the west. I think it goes back to the values of american governance. How Unsustainable Development has been in this country and continues to be unsustainable. If the law of god was in place, the law of god says the waters gonna flow downhill. But what did we do . We put a dam here, there, there, and use it to push the water. Making it flow uphill. Phoenix should have never been developed. Tuscon should have never been developed. As fears rise about the water running out, were taking a journey down the colorado to find out who really controls this river and why in a time of crisis theyre taking more water than it can supply. What does that look like 50 to 100 years from now . I worry about the future generations. What are they gonna have . Were paying our lives for that. We have to pay that price so a group of people can have their american dream. On this episode of fault lines the fight for the colorado. A vital resource in danger of dying. The first stop on our journey down the river the hoover dam. If theres a starting point in the modern story of the colorado, its here. Built in 1935, these two and a half million cubic meters of concrete changed the course of the river, and american history. Even today, looking up close at the hoover dam, the scale of it is just breathtaking. In the context of the 1930s, this was the most expensive project this country had ever undertaken. Suddenly it was possible to divert water from the colorado to areas once considered uninhabitable. The dam made it possible to create lake mead, the largest reservoir in america, to act as a savings account for water in the west. Were heading out onto the lake with don martin. Hes been sailing here for three decades and seen it change dramatically. These islands right there. Those were underwater. That entire land mass was underwater . Yeah. That was completely underwater. Just the tops of those were sticking out. When the lake was full, the water reached the top of the canyon. Now all thats left is a white ring all around it. A reminder of more abundant times. Theres two major sources of drainage, if you will. Theres southern california, theyre pulling that water for their crops over there. And then the Central Arizona project, in arizona, were pulling water for phoenix, and then it goes all the way to tucson. So theres a lot of factors in play in whats causing this. But essentially, its not getting recharged. Lake mead is now at less than 40 percent capacity the lowest level since its creation. But that hasnt stopped las vegas from pulling its share. The city already relies on two major pipelines from the lake. Now its begun working on a third. Thats the lake right there, right . Yup, the lake is just on the other side of this mountain here. Okay. We wanted to know why the local Water Authority is building a new pipeline when the water levels in the lake already appear at a crisis point. One thing to keep in mind is that lake mead is doing exactly what it was intended to do. Store water in wet years so its available in dry years. Weve just had a lot of dry years over the past 15. Being able to install this third intake will allow us to continue accessing water even if lake mead reaches a deadpool elevation of 900 feet. Well continue to access that water and meet our responsibility to our two million residents and 40 million annual visitors. But somethings gotta give. I mean you cant just keep expanding the population size with a dwindling water supply. I mean thats just not sustainable. Thats just human nature. That really goes back to manifest destiny. It goes back to sort of, this american dream. Youre going to continue to see people moving to the Desert Southwest. So from our perspective as water managers, its up to us to make sure that were able to meet the demands of our community regardless of what our numbers might be. The Colorado River runs for 76 miles along the border of the Navajo Nation the largest native tribe in the u. S. Unlike las vegas, 40 percent of people on the reservation dont have access to Running Water in their homes. Instead, they rely on hauling water from community wells. How many times do you have to do this . If were doing work on the field, probably like two times. Two times a day . Two times a day. And if were feeding the plants probably like the whole day. Wow thats a lot of work. Yeah. Thats tough. Yeah, it is. But it is. But its life. Gotta do it. More than 300 thousand people live on the navajo reservation. But their rights to the colorado are undefined. The Colorado River compact brought together the states but left out the Navajo Nation. The Navajo Nation should have absolutely been part of that compact. They werent. How do we go back and try to fix that. Fix that. Nicole horseherder grew up in this region. She says the laws that govern water in the west have left the navajo with a difficult choice. As a nation, the navajo people have always looked at water as something thats owned collectively. Do i wanna bring my people out of that mindset to share collectively the water . Or do i want to propel them into the western mindset and to empty the rivers. Is that what i want . I think thats the real struggle. Theres gotta be different answers and its all about changing the way we live, changing the way we think and changing how we view other life besides our own. Catch more faultlines episodes on demand or at aljazeera. Com faultlines. A fourteenyearold. Murdered. Whistling at a white woman. In mississippi . America tonight opens the case. Never thought that he would be killed for that. That started the push for racial justice. That was the first step in the modern civil rights movement. Could new evidence uncover the truth about that gruesome night . I wanted people to hear the true story of till. My name is imran garda. The show is called third rail. When you watch the show, youre gonna find us being unafraid. The topics will fascinate you. Intrigue you. They take this seriously. Let me quote you. Theres a double standard. You cant be a hypocrite. Youre gonna also get a show thats really fair, bold, never predictable. They should be worried about Heart Disease not terrorism. No, i wouldnt say that at all. Youll see a show that has an impact on the conventional wisdom, that goes where nobody else goes. My name is imran garda, im the host of third rail and you can find it on al jazeera america. To understand where all the water from the Colorado River is going, we wanted to see it from the sky. Its a nice early morning. Yeah, looks beautiful. Should be beautiful out. Yeah. Bruce gordon is a pilot and conservationist, whos been tracking the problem for the past 40 years. As the river winds south, you can see it getting smaller. Those channels down there, is that water or is that a road . Theres a lot of water channels going through, yeah. Thats actually a channel of water going right through the farmland . Uhhuh. Yeah, you can see the line where it just starts becoming green. Theres this one lifeline goin down through the middle of this whole arid Desert Southwest thats pretty profound when you start to think about it. Thats the Colorado River. Thats the Colorado River. Just north of the usmexico border, the river takes a massive diversion. Its called the allAmerican Canal. We went to find out where it leads. So this is the all American Canal . This is the very end of the allAmerican Canal right here. And what happens to the water after that . So this is now being pumped from the canal, which has in turn come from the Colorado River . Thats correct. Vince brooke works for the imperial irrigation district, the Largest Consumer of Colorado River water in the u. S. This here will clear up into the north end the valley. Thisll go 40 miles. Really . Wow. Just taking water to all the fields and farms . Yes. Wow. And how far do you think we are from the Colorado River itself . Right now probably about 83 miles. Wow. Its amazing. Coming here, youd never know that california is in the middle of its worst drought since records began. The state has declared an emergency, and ordered cuts on water use for the first time. But those restrictions dont apply here. Were in the imperial valley, a community of just 450 farmers whose water rights date back generations. I can remember my grandfather many times saying, you know theyll come a time when we fight over every last drop of water in the river. Ed hale is one of those farmers, who invited us on a tour of his ranch. He says the drought has created pressure to use less water. Theres a great hue and cry to you know, reallocate, reallocate. I mean, what . Are we gonna dry up all the agriculture so that we can have more urban sprawl . You know, is that great social policy . I dont think so. The local water authorities has created an incentive for ai so cities on the coast can use more. The way it works is i as a farmer have to go to the district and say, you know what . Ive thought up a way that i can save additional water over what im doin right now. And we sign up a contract with the district. And then at the end of the year, if i have saved that amount of water, and only if, then i get paid for the water that ive saved. And is it a set amount that you receive back . 285 an acre foot. 285. And then met takes that, wheels it through their deal. And by the time it gets to the coast, that water is bringing 1,200 an acre foot. Its pretty profitable. For the water districts. The deal has turned Colorado River water into a commodity, whatever the farmers dont use is sold on at a profit. Its not really conservation in that sense, is it . Because youre not actually keeping the water in the Colorado River. Its still being used. Its just being transferred. We are conserving the resource. We are not using as much of it. But its still being consumed. Just by different people. Its still being consumed. By different people. Doesnt really solve the problem. It doesnt take care of the drought issue on the river, except you know were not gonna solve the problem by ourselves. If you lose california agriculture, you cant replace that in the united states. Youre gonna have to replace that in a third world country. And the ramificartions of that cant be foreseen, but none of them are going to be good. An hours drive from eds ranch, you can find an example of what might happen if the river runs dry. The salton sea was created by accident in 1905 as part of a failed effort to divert the river west. How adventurous are you . Very. Okay. Julie londo has lived here since the mid 1980s, and seen the area around her decline. You can see the water used to come all the way up to the rocks there. All the way up to there . Yes. How long ago was that . 10 years ago. Wow. You can see the little dead fish. Oh yes. Theyre all over the sea. There are some fresh ones. Oh wow. As the lake levels have dropped, its become increasingly tainted, collecting waste and chemical runoff from farms. So this entire sea is essentially from Colorado River water, but now its so salty that its killing the fish in the water and washing up on the shore, and you can see them every few feet just literally lying along the sea line. With no new water coming in, the salton sea is slowly drying. The impacts becoming increasingly apparent as we traveled further east down the coast. The lakebed is now poisoned with selenium and arsenic, chemicals found in fertilizer and pesticide. Dead fish wash up on these beaches every day. Sometimes thousands at a time. Its a reminder of whats at stake when water becomes scarce, and a vision of a future that may not be far away. My life revolves around my kids becoming champions. I guess i just got tired of losing and then something just snapped. You know. Concussions, fractured skulls. This is a scary situation. Find out what happens when the gloves come off. Go all out, make this a war. The highs and lows of kids competitive sports. You cant go home wondering did i give it everything. I lived that character. Go one on one with americas movers and s with so many interests competing for water in the west and so much at stake its hard to imagine how a collective decision can be made to safeguard the river for future generations. But there is a federal agency thats supposed to be in charge. Many people have probably never even heard of it, but the bureau of reclamation has done more to shape the water supply, landscape, and economy of the American West than possibly any other entity in this country. Weve come here to speak to its commissioner. What role is there for the bureau of reclamation to at least push for federally mandated restrictions if it feels those are necessary . I would say that that really isnt our role. Generally, its not our role to try and dictate the uses of that water. Whose role is it then . I think its societys role. I think it would be a huge mistake for us to simply say, we know best. Were trying to balance a myriad of uses, and find the right balance that doesnt get us stuck in a legal battle that just goes on, and on, and on, and really doesnt lead to a solution. How soon do you think we should be starting to think about rewriting the law of the river, and looking at some of those laws which many say, are now outdated . Well im personally not in favor of rewriting the law of the river. Water rights, for better or worse, have in most cases been defined as property rights. But were talking about the Colorado River, its not property. Do you think theres something wrong with that . I dont know whether its right or wrong. Thats the way it is. I think we can deal with the issue without having to disrupt the whole system. And i think were dealing with the issue without disrupting the whole system. The system as it works now has created a hierarchy of rights to water from a river thats running out. As the colorado enters mexico, the oncemighty river has been reduced to a trickle. It now no longer reaches the gulf of california. It looks like theres actually still a little bit of water flowing through this channel. So the river does continue but its just maybe about 10 feet wide at this point. This is the colorado as it gets to mexico. As we traveled south, we met a man named yurimuri, on his way to go fishing with his sons. He took us to a tributary of what used to be the colorado, filled mostly by runoff from farms. In 2000, when the colorado stopped flowing to this region, yurimuri wrote a letter to the white house, accusing the u. S. Of violating international law, by failing to save enough water for mexico. The letter went unanswered and at nearly 70 years old, hes having to work harder than ever to provide for his two sons. Some people might say, well, it looks like theres a beautiful river here. Theres lots of water. So whats the problem . Elderly americans addicted to painkillers prescribed by doctors. Have you ever thought about going off of your painkiller dosage. No, i dont know if id have the courage to stop it. But is it leading to abuse more than its helping . He would prescribe what he felt was appropriate. The result, she died. Faultlines checks into rehab to investigate whos responsible for the hidden epidemic. I was just doin what the doctors told me to do. Asian stock markets swing wildly as the eyes of the financial world are on china. This is world news from al jazeera. Also, south korea stops propaganda broadcasts in a deal with north korea. And celebrations in sierra leone
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