The Colorado River is under strain: How much longer can it flow?

“Whiskey may be for drinking, but water’s what we’ll fight over.”

My father cherished that old saying, almost as much as he cherished whiskey, water, and the wild West.

Bill Weir Sr. was a hardened detective by day, but a cowboy at heart.

After a brutal week filled with violence and chaos, he threw his badge on his captain's desk with clear, unspoken instructions on where to place it.

He loaded his saddle and skis, then left Milwaukee behind for the mountains.

Once he made Colorado his home, that old saying gained new meaning.

Whether riding his horse by a dry ditch or fishing in a trout stream, he’d complain about water rights, population growth, and the inevitable day of reckoning.

“One day, we’re going to raft the Colorado, kid,” he’d say. “Before it’s gone.”

That conversation replayed in my mind the day I borrowed his snowshoes and followed his last wishes. Dad had asked me to spread his ashes atop Mount Sopris.

The mountain and the rivers beneath it were my childhood playground. I climbed to a perfect spot beside a serene lake and held a solitary memorial.

My father inspired 'The Wonder List.' He was perpetually amazed by the world’s untamed places and constantly worried about the future of our planet.

This one’s dedicated to him… and to the 40 million people who rely on the Colorado River for their survival.

It’s believed that for the past 15 years, the Colorado has been at its lowest levels since the 9th century.

Back then, only a few native tribes were threatened. Today, it’s millions of families, farms, and industries stretching from Denver to Los Angeles.

A glance at Hoover or Glen Canyon Dam inspires awe at the American strength that turned the desert into thriving communities. But that awe fades when you spot the stark watermarks far above the levels they once held.

Lake Powell and Lake Mead are less than half full, and even the heavy snowfalls from this El Nino year can’t undo the impacts of climate change and growing populations.

Like my father before them, another 20 million people are expected to ‘head West’ by the middle of the century.

But how much more can the Colorado River handle—farming, ranching, recreation, damming, construction, drinking, and fighting? How long will it continue to flow?

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