Analyzing News Reports on the Colorado River Crisis

The Colorado River Crisis
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The Colorado River Crisis
Question 1
The source of the scientific information referenced by Tony Davis is from four master’s students. The students were working under the direction of Douglass Kenney, who is a researcher at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Kenney is an experienced individual and has mostly focused on the Colorado River water. The main goal of conducting this study was to investigate the repercussions of the reduction of water in the Colorado River. The conclusion was that such a shortage would affect “Arizona and the Southwest more than people previously believed.”
Question 2
Davis involves a lot of experts or scientists who offer their contribution in different ways. Their expertise is indeed crucial as it helps in understanding the issue in-depth. Douglas Kenney, for example, is an experienced researcher and his work in guiding the students did pay off as they delivered something that has a lot of people invested in the issue of water shortage in the Colorado River.
There is also Bob Johnson who is the Phoenix-based Central Arizona Project’s (CAP), interim executive director. Johnson’s involvement is centered on his understanding of the power supply in the region. Together with Mitch Basefsky, he provides an update as to the current cost of Hoover power.
Other people who were included in Davis’s discussion of the study include Thomas Buschtzke and Kathleen Ferris. The former is the water chief in Arizona while the latter is “a longtime Arizona water official and attorney.” Both of these experts disputed the claims made by the study. However, Ferris did have some concerns, especially with regards to the “groundwater replenishment district.”
Bill Hasencamp is also another expert or the Metropolitan’s Colorado River programs director. Bill agreed with the findings of the study noting that if Lake Mead were to reduce to levels below 1075ft, then there would be serious problems as the local government would be forced to cut water supply which is already being rationed.
Finally, Davis also uses the expertise of Christie Vanover and Chris Neher. Vanover is a National Park Service spokeswoman, and in her response to the study and its conclusion that tourists will reduce because of the reducing water levels of Lake Mead, she said that this is an impossible feat. In her assessment, she says that it is difficult to measure the number of people against the level of the lake. Neher, on the other hand, is a researcher who had been involved in a study of Mead visitation. He did agree that water levels could influence visitation of Mead but also included the possibility of other factors playing a part in determining the numbers.
Question 3
One alternative view is that the water shortage will not last long. As indicated by Buschtzke, Arizona stores water in aquifers which are raised to store more during the rainy seasons. These reservoirs or aquifers are not facing any shortage in the near future as the study indicates. According to Ferris (water official and attorney), the water bank “has already been buying and recharging less CAP water in recent years” and ...