Colorado

The City of Fort Morgan began delivering water from Lake Carter to the residents and businesses of Fort Morgan, Colorado in 2000. As a result the local City's water Department was divided into two sub- departments: water distribution and water treatment.

There are approximately 4000 water customers served by the City of Fort Morgan. The water treatment plant treats a daily average of 3.8 million gallons of water a day.

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 The Mighty Mississippi

According to the National Parks Service, "The Mississippi River watershed is the fourth largest in the world, extending from the Allegheny Mountains in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west. The watershed includes all or parts of 31 states and 2 Canadian Provinces. The watershed measures approximately 1.2 million square miles, covering about 40% of the lower 48 states.

Communities up and down the river use the Mississippi to obtain freshwater and to discharge their industrial and municipal waste. We don't have good figures on water use for the whole Mississippi River Basin, but we have some clues. A January 2000 study published by the Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee states that close to 15 million people rely on the Mississippi River or its tributaries in just the upper half of the basin (from Cairo, IL to Minneapolis, MN). A frequently cited figure of 18 million people using the Mississippi River Watershed for water supply comes from a 1982 study by the Upper Mississippi River Basin Committee. The Environmental Protection Agency simply says that more than 50 cities rely on the Mississippi for daily water supply." 

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Calumet River

The Calumet River  most often refers to a system of heavily industrialized rivers and canals in the region between the neighborhood of South Chicago in Chicago, Illinois, and the city of Gary, Indiana. Industrial development in the Calumet River area began around the 1870s, and by 1890 the West reach of the Grand Calumet River was heavily polluted with the waste of steel mills, foundries, a meat packing plant, and glue and cornstarch factoriesIn September 2008, areas of Lake and Porter County, Indiana, were declared national disaster areas when the Little Calumet River breached its levee.

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WATER: Music to Your Ears 

Singer and songwriter Olivia Brownlee likes water. For lack of a better word, water is her muse. She was kind enough to share an image of a waterfall in Laos outside of Pakse. The image is accompanied by two songs using water as inspiration

"I'm a big fan of water, I call it my "magical elixir."  I am always drawn to poems, songs and images with it. It's better than beer.  I am always looking for an excuse to incorporate its awesomeness into my conversations."

"Where There's Water"

https://m.soundcloud.com/olivia-brownlee/9-where-theres-water

"Deep Water"

https://m.soundcloud.com/olivia-brownlee/11-deep-water

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Colorado VS Kansas

Colorado VS Kansas. Everyone wants the water from the Arkansas River -the 6th longest in the U.S. at 1,469 miles. It is the 2nd major tributary to the Mississippi and used for irrigation in many areas. The Kansas-Oklahoma Arkansas River Basin Compact was created in 1965 to promote mutual consideration and equity over water use.

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Cochiti Lake

Cochiti Lake is on the Rio Grande, about half way between Santa Fe and Albuquerque. Cochiti Dam is one of the ten largest earthfill dams in the United Stated at 5.5 miles long with two spillways. The reservoir is  maintained at a depth of 95 feet. It is one of the four units for flood and sediment control on the Rio Grande, operating in conjunction with Galisteo, Jemez Canyon, and Abiquiu Dams.  Park Ranger Jacob Segura took time to provide the facts and history of the dam and Cochiti area.

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Starved Rock Lock & Dam

Starved Rock Lock and Dam, also known as Lock and Dam No. 6, is a lock and dam facility managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers along the Illinois River. It is part of the Illinois Waterway and was constructed between 1926 and 1933. The Waterway was a project designed to provide a navigable channel from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River.Along the original Illinois Waterway, Starved Rock Lock and Dam is the southernmost facility. The lock and dam are located along the Illinois River near the north central Illinois village of Utica. The lock and dam is at river mile 231 just downstream from Plum Island.The facility is presently operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

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Tree Planting

Fresno, California may be in drought but trees are being planted. This arbor grouping is waiting to be planted on campus.

"It  rained quite a bit last Saturday so we don't have to use as much water landscaping right now, so that's a good thing"

This image was submitted by Jesse from Fresno, California

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Road Trip

This is Abbey. She is a 14 year old Labrador on a road trip. Her owners planned a fall weekend trip to Watson Lake outside of Prescott, Arizona. Watson Lake is one of two reservoirs at the Granite Dells that was formed when the Chino Valley Irrigation District built a dam on Granite Creek in the early 1900s. The City of Prescott bought the 380 surface acre reservoir and surrounding land in 1997 to preserve it as recreational land.

These images were shared by Jon A. from Phoenix, Arizona.

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Beat the Drought in the Shower?

"Beat the drought use a shower timer" These simple water saving shower timers are distributed in hotel bathrooms in California by Contra Costa water district. The olds chool sand timer gives 4 minutes with each flip. 

Additional water saving tips include: 

     Keep showers short. 

     Use high efficiency shower head.

     Turn the water off or limit the flow while soaping or shampooing.

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