Comments about ‘Here's how to stop using all Colorado River basin water’

Then the only people that would go down the Colorado River would be the river runners. They wouldn't be able to explore side canyons now made accessible by Lake Powell, and the economy of Southeastern Utah and North Eastern Arizona would suffer.

Why doesn't the writer move out of LA (I assume he lives there due to the connection with the LA Times, maybe I'm wrong) which is one of the biggest abusers/users of water not from their local area in the world.

I think a better option would be to cut out the greater Los Angeles area from Colorado River water. Then the writer would have something to actually complain about. Higher water bills.

I would challenge a point or two.

First, the author presents a "what-if" scenario based on unfounded projections of prolonged drought in the west caused by "global warming." There is no scientific support for those projections, only conjecture.

Second, creation of Lake Powell certainly changed the canyons' environments, but calling that change "degradation" is a stretch. More fish, birds, and animals live there now. Sedimentation patterns are always disrupted by dams, but calling one state "good" and another "degraded" is arbitrary at best.

The author is correct in stating that we need to continue improvements in water usage, but his/her proposed eradication of Lake Powell is one of the "boondoggles" s/he complains about.

What about just plain old fashioned wise use and conservation?

Drain lake Powell. Drain it now.

There needs to be a law that cities can't prohibit yards with natural landscaping. In addition education in the schools about our water realities wouldn't hurt either.