Dear Western Water readers:

John Wesley Powell’s expedition down the Colorado River and his subsequent account are a staple of the history of the American West and a key moment in the understanding of the region’s geology and hydrology. One hundred and fifty years after Powell and his party pushed their wooden boats into the river on May 24, 1869, the magnitude of his accomplishment remains fascinating. 

But Powell’s imprint on the West hardly ends there. He had strong opinions of how the West should be settled and how people should use its water, views that often set him in conflict with those who pushed for unbridled development. Yet his perspectives influenced what later became the Reclamation Act of 1902, which created the Reclamation Service (now called Bureau of Reclamation). 

In an interview with Western Water’s Gary Pitzer, Charles Wilkinson, an emeritus professor at the University of Colorado Law School and a scholar of Powell, water and the American West, assesses Powell’s legacy on the 150th anniversary of his expedition to explore the Colorado, a river that 40 million people now depend on. Read the full story here. 

Water Around the West

Here are five don’t-miss articles from the last week:

Siren songs of the Salton Sea: Ideas abound to fix state’s largest lake. But some say it’s too late. The Palm Springs Desert Sun’s Janet Wilson takes a look at the differing views of what to do about the receding and troubled lake — and whether it can still be saved. 

They grow the nation’s food, but they can’t drink the water. The New York Times’ Jose A. Del Real takes a look at the heavy concentration of failing water systems of California’s agricultural communities, and the state’s efforts to find the money to address them. 

Weakling or bully? The battle over CEQA, the state’s iconic environmental law. Alistair Bland, writing for CALmatters, examines the debate over how the California Environmental Quality Act is being used and whether it needs reform.

Mark Arax: Chasing the water and dust behind the California Dream. KQED’s Sasha Khokha talked with author Mark Arax about his latest book, “The Dreamt Land: Chasing Water and Dust Across California,” and how the quest to find and move water has always been essential to the California Dream.

Can small-scale farmers grow a healthier California? Jessica Kutz, writing for High Country News, reports on a research effort focusing on small farms that grow a variety of crops in the San Joaquin Valley to find out whether, ecologically, this diversity has any positive effects on soil health.

Water Word of the Day

Colorado River. The turbulent Colorado River is one of the most heavily regulated rivers in the world. The Colorado falls some 10,000 feet on its way from the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of California. From its headwaters northwest of Denver, the 1,450-mile-long river and its tributaries pass through parts of seven states: Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming and is also used by the Republic of Mexico. Learn more about the Colorado River, its history and importance as the Lifeline of the Southwest in Aquapedia, our free, vetted online water encyclopedia. 

At the Foundation

Water supply in the Colorado River Basin and California is largely dependent on the health of our headwaters forests. In California, 60% of the state’s developed water supply originates high in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Yet our Sierra forests suffer from ecosystem degradation, drought, wildfires and widespread tree mortality. Join our Headwaters Tour June 27-28 as we head into the Sierra foothills and the mountains to examine water issues that happen upstream but have impacts downstream and throughout the state. Learn more and sign up here. 

Water Academy

Our Colorado River bundle features our beautiful Colorado River poster-size map and our Layperson’s Guide to the Colorado River, updated in 2018. This discounted bundle gives you the resources you need to understand the importance of the Colorado River to nearly 40 million people in seven Western states and Mexico. You can add our Layperson’s Guide to the Colorado River Delta to this bundle for a discounted rate. Here’s where to get your bundle.