Buying a gulp of the Colorado
THE basin of the Colorado River cuts a huge, wriggling swathe across the western United States. It covers 244,000 square miles of territory (632,000 square kilometres) and provides water to 25m people, 16m in southern California alone. Who gets this water, and why, obsesses the West. So much importance is attached to the distribution of the river's annual surplus of water that the decision is made by the secretary of the interior, no less.
This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Buying a gulp of the Colorado”
From the January 24th 1998 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from United States
Pam Bondi seems like a relatively safe pair of hands
But is America’s next attorney-general an independent operator?
Checks and Balance newsletter: Joe Biden’s farewell shot at the oligarchy
The outgoing president warns of a new “tech-industrial complex”
A protest against America’s TikTok ban is mired in contradiction
Another Chinese app is not the alternative some young Americans think it is
Joe Biden wound up serving Donald Trump
In some ways, his administration will look less like an interregnum than like MAGA-lite
How bad will the smoke be for Angelenos’ health?
Expect more sickness and disrupted schooling
Should you have to prove your age before watching porn?
America’s Supreme Court weighs a Texan law aimed at protecting kids