Opinion: Ditches are a vanishing paradise in the West
Throughout the West, thousands of ditches that snake for miles through semi-arid country are nothing less than beloved. They add living green corridors to walk or bike along, impromptu wetlands frequented by birds, and always, a respite from summer heat. But now a warming climate delivers less melted snow to rivers that supply these diversion ditches with water. Federal legislation also mandates piping many earthen ditches to cut salinity in the Colorado River water that’s sent to Mexico.
-Written by Dave Marston, publisher of Writers on the Range, writersontherange.org, an independent nonprofit dedicated to lively discussion about the West.