Restoring Colorado River Ecosystems

by Adler, Robert W.

• ISBN13: 9781597260572
• ISBN10: 1597260576
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-05-21
• Publisher: Island Pr

Summary

"Restoring Colorado River Ecosystems" explores the many questions and challenges surrounding the issue of large-scale restoration of the Colorado River basin, and of large-scale restoration in general.

Author Biography

Robert W. Alder is associate dean for academic affairs and the James I. Farr Chair and Professor of Law at the S.J. Quinney College of Law, University of Utah. He studies and writes about protection and restoration of aquatic ecosystems.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. xv
Preface	p. xix
Introduction: Retaking Old Ground	p. 1
Taming the Colorado-How We Changed the River to Meet Human Needs	p. 2
Restoration and the Environmental Movement	p. 7
Choosing Restoration Strategies: Restoring Places or Restoring Processes	p. 12
Choosing Restoration Methods: Dam Modification or Dam Removal	p. 14
Preserving Economic Institutions or Meeting New Restoration Goals	p. 17
The Living Artery: Disruptions to the River's Linear Connections	p. 26
Blocking the Movement of Fish	p. 27
Changing the Flow of Water	p. 33
Stemming the Movement of Sediment	p. 37
Changing the Flow of Food and Energy	p. 45
Concentrating Pollutants	p. 50
The Living Artery	p. 52
Only the Hills Will Know: Changes in the Watershed	p. 55
Habitats at the Water's Edge: Disruptions to River-Floodplain Connections	p. 56
Disruptions to Land-Water Connections in the Watershed	p. 62
Land Use, Climate, and Habitat Change in the Colorado River Basin	p. 66
Beavers and Watershed Health	p. 73
Implications of Watershed Health for Colorado River Restoration	p. 76
Tree of the People: Tree of Life	p. 79
Wild Burros and the Goals of Environmental Restoration	p. 80
Salt Cedar and Southwestern Riparian Ecosystems	p. 84
Brown-Headed Cowbirds, Habitat Change, and Interspecies Competition	p. 91
Effects of Introduced Species on Native Fish of the Colorado	p. 94
Are Exotic Species All Bad? Choices Among Restoration Goals	p. 101
Down the Great Unknown: Environmental Restoration in the Face of Scientific Uncertainty	p. 104
Ghosts of the Green River-Native Fish Eradication and Early Environmental Law	p. 107
The Law of the River and Changing Environmental Awareness	p. 114
The Law of the River, Evolving Scientific Understanding, and Changing Demand	p. 117
Who Bears the Risk of Uncertainty?	p. 120
The Related Roles of Science and Policy in Species Recovery Goals	p. 124
The Role of Chance in Species Viability	p. 126
Law, Science, and Uncertainty	p. 131
Uncertainty in Restoration Strategies: A Preview	p. 133
Casting of the Lots: Conflicting Methods and Goals in Environmental Restoration	p. 137
Restoration Decisions in the Face of Conflicting Laws	p. 139
Revised Dam Releases to Restore Sediment Flows	p. 148
Competing Strategies to Restore Endangered Fish Populations and Habitats	p. 153
Competing Resources in Grand Canyon Restoration	p. 158
Making Restoration Choices Democratically	p. 162
Expanding Restoration Program Focus	p. 169
Ownership of Unownable Things: Property Rights and Environmental Restoration at the Water's Edge	p. 171
River Restoration Goals for the Radically Altered Lower River	p. 172
Multi-Species ESA Implementation in the Lower River Corridor	p. 178
The Efficacy of Habitat Restoration Along the Lower Colorado River	p. 189
Private Property and Restoration Along the Lower River	p. 197
An Elusive and Indefinable Boundary: Restoration and Political Borders	p. 204
The End of the River	p. 206
Allocating the Colorado River Across the U.S.-Mexico Border	p. 210
Resolving the U.S.-Mexico Dispute over Salinity	p. 214
Water, Salinity, and Ecosystem Restoration in Mexico	p. 221
Restoring Water Flows and Colorado River Ecosystems in Mexico	p. 229
The Lovely and the Usable: Toward a More Holistic Approach to Restoration	p. 237
Restoring Ecosystem Processes	p. 240
Revisiting the Law of the River as a Restoration Strategy	p. 244
Rethinking Water Use and Management as a Restoration Strategy	p. 248
Rethinking Recreation as a Restoration Strategy	p. 254
Rethinking Power Generation as a Restoration Strategy	p. 258
Restoration and Aesthetic Values	p. 262
Coda: Into New Dimensions	p. 267
Endnotes	p. 271
Index	p. 305
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