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Whale-ista
Super Nomad
Posts: 2009
Registered: 2-18-2013
Location: San Diego
Member Is Offline
Mood: Sunny with chance of whales
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lose the delta, lose the nutrients, lose the fish....
I posted a related (long) description of what the Delta of the Colorado river was like 90 years ago, quoting from Aldo Leopold. He was a
naturalist/ranger from Wisconsin, who canoed the delta with his brother in 1920s and described a fully functioning region full of life, because it had
a full flow of water. No big dams/diversions upstream meant the full flow of water and nutrients made it into the northern Sea of Cortez unimpeded.
The quantity and quality of wildlife he described has long since disappeared.
Today, a big reason for this declining fish productivity is the lack of fresh water coming in at the northern end of the gulf. Little fresh water,
fewer nutrients, and more pollution in what little water does make it thru what's left of this estuary makes for a meager catch compared to what was
there in the past.
Not sure how to change this, given the demand for water from the Colorado river in the western US and the drier weather cycles we have seen for the
last 30 years.
So, yes: enjoy it while you can. Unless/until the river recovers, this won't improve.
\"Probably the airplanes will bring week-enders from Los Angeles before long, and the beautiful poor bedraggled old town will bloom with a
Floridian ugliness.\" (John Steinbeck, 1940, discussing the future of La Paz, BCS, Mexico)
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redhilltown
Super Nomad
Posts: 1130
Registered: 1-24-2009
Location: Long Beach, CA
Member Is Offline
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It's funny how pics of a guy holding a great fish or all the anglers lined up under the rack of trophies does little for me...but man, THESE PICS are
the best!!!!!!!!
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Skipjack Joe
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8084
Registered: 7-12-2004
Location: Bahia Asuncion
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Whale-ista
I posted a related (long) description of what the Delta of the Colorado river was like 90 years ago, quoting from Aldo Leopold. He was a
naturalist/ranger from Wisconsin, who canoed the delta with his brother in 1920s and described a fully functioning region full of life, because it had
a full flow of water. No big dams/diversions upstream meant the full flow of water and nutrients made it into the northern Sea of Cortez unimpeded.
The quantity and quality of wildlife he described has long since disappeared.
Today, a big reason for this declining fish productivity is the lack of fresh water coming in at the northern end of the gulf. Little fresh water,
fewer nutrients, and more pollution in what little water does make it thru what's left of this estuary makes for a meager catch compared to what was
there in the past.
Not sure how to change this, given the demand for water from the Colorado river in the western US and the drier weather cycles we have seen for the
last 30 years.
So, yes: enjoy it while you can. Unless/until the river recovers, this won't improve. |
The Colorado has the misfortune of running in one country and emptying out in another. One river and two nations. Neither cares about the affect one
has on the other. If the US/Mexico border was just 100 miles further south the laws would not have permitted this to happen.
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