Colorado River is America’s Most Endangered River — How You Can Help [VIDEO]

As a new resident to Grand Junction and the Grand Valley, hearing that the Colorado River is becoming endangered was unfathomable; I come from the Great Lake State, water is abundant -- rivers, streams, ponds and huge lakes were around every corner! After digging into this a bit more, it's apparent that I need to change my ways.

Here are the vitals for the Colorado River:

• 36-million people drink its water
• It irrigates near 4 million acres which grows 15% of America's crops
• Millions of tourists/residents use it's water for recreation

The Colorado also helps supply electricity to millions, supports healthy wildlife and has created some awesome scenery.

Can we let the Colorado River go the way of other natural delights we've lost? We can't breed a river in captivity like we can with animals. So what can we do?

My Bad Habits

I'll admit, I'm having a hard time breaking my water usage habits, I take long showers, brush my teeth with the water running and run the water while doing dishes. I know this is awful, but I'm really working on breaking these bad habits. I'm sure I'm not the only transplant that has/had these issues. Here's a few household tips:

• Turn the water off when brushing your teeth.
• Limit your showers to a 15 minutes max.
• Dont' throw away water -- re-use water your drinking for your dog or plants

Keep on the Grass

Now that I'm making a conscious effort to slim-down my water usage, this would be a good time for all of us to take a look at what we have been doing, like watering the lawn. I know I've seen people watering their lawn on a rainy day, in the middle of the day or even watering their sidewalks. Here are some tips that may help:

• Water early in the morning, between 4 a.m. and 9 a.m., this will help eliminate evaporation and blowing in the wind.
• Focus the water on your grass, your sidewalk doesn't need a drink or bath.
• Water only when you need to! There are tips all over the Internet to efficiently water your lawn.

There are plenty of ways to help save the Colorado, and that usually begins with us ignorant humans, short of sounding like a dirty hippy, our kids will thank us.

[American Rivers]