Category: Issue 2

“The happiest person in this country cannot help breathing in smokers’ cigarette fumes, auto exhaust, and airborne chemical dust, nor avoid drinking the water, and eating the food. The idea that happiness can insulate us against the results of our environmental madness is a rumor circulated by our enemies to destroy us.” Audre Lorde, The…

Introduction “‘[I]ncreases in heat-related deaths,’ ‘coastal inundation and erosion,’ ‘more frequent and intense hurricanes, floods, and other extreme weather events,’ ‘drought,’ ‘destruction of ecosystems,’ and ‘potentially significant disruptions of food production.’ ”[3] The U.S. Supreme Court has not minced words in outlining climate change’s potential threats. Climate change’s ubiquity and potentially expansive impacts mean that the…

Abstract Twenty-plus years of drought and overuse in the Colorado River system have dramatically changed the outlook for water users in the system’s Lower and Upper Basins. At the time of this Article’s writing, the United States Bureau of Reclamation was simultaneously working on two related, but separate, environmental review processes related to the management…

Introduction A tension exists that must be reconciled between Colorado’s management of its natural resources and its stated commitment to fighting climate change. The Colorado executive and legislative branches have, through laws, public statements, and plans, indicated their dedication to fighting climate change. In the 2019 regular session, the Colorado legislature enacted several bills directed…

Introduction Colorado is a headwater state. Of the 158 rivers flowing through it, all but two originate in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. Major rivers, including the Colorado, the Rio Grande, the Platte, and the Arkansas, arise as small mountain streams that flow through plateaus and high mesas to the west, arid valleys to the south, and…

Abstract Over the past 200 years, the large majority of Colorado’s rivers have been altered to make way for development, agriculture, or transportation, or to deliver water to users more efficiently. Rivers have been buried by mining debris or concrete, channelized, levied, wholly diverted, riparian vegetation lost by grazing or land use practices, and thousands…