53 different species of fish are at elevated risk of extinction thanks to cattle farms around the Colorado River basin, which have depleted the region’s freshwater supplies to grow water-hungry feed crops like alfalfa
- A new study shows cattle farms are responsible for 55 percent of the water taken from the Colorado River every year
- That’s put 53 species of fish at risk of extinction in 690 different parts of the river
- The team blame water hungry crops like alfalfa and corn, grown to feed cows
Cattle farmers in the American West are depleting freshwater stores from the Colorado River, according to a new study from scientists at the University of Delaware.
The study found the main cause was irrigation to grow crops used for cattle feed—including water-hungry alfalfa and corn.
According to the study, led by the University of Delaware’s Kyle Davis, 55 percent of all water taken from the Colorado River basin goes to growing food for cows, something that’s contributed to the gradual depletion of the river.
A new study on water usage in the Colorado River basin has identified 53 fish species at elevated risk of extinction because of water diverted to farms growing feed crops for cattle
The river’s water flow has decreased by 20 percent over the last 100 years, as agriculture has combined with local temperature increases to deplete the region’s freshwater stores faster than they can be replenished through natural means.
That decline has put 53 species of fish local to the Colorado River at elevated risk of extinction, according to Davis and his team.
‘We looked at agriculture, industry, domestic use, and thermoelectric power generation and quantified what their water demand is on a monthly basis,’ Davis told the University of Delaware’s news blog UDaily.
‘Then we incorporated those estimates into a national hydrological model to understand how those human water uses within different watersheds in the United States would lead to reduced availability for people and aquatic species downstream.’
Davis and his team identified almost 1,000 specific locations where water flow depletion placed fish at risk, and 690 of those specific locations were attributed to irrigation for cattle feed crops.
Corn farms in Colorado are one of the main sources of feed to for cattle, which has helped decrease water flow in the Colorado River by 20 percent over the last 100 years
The cattle industry in and around the Colorado River basin feeds people all across the United States, with large business shipping beef to Los Angeles, Portland, San Francisco, Denver and elsewhere.
According to Davis, one immediate strategy to help stave off extinction and further depleting the river would be to pay farmers to take a season or two off from growing cattle feed crops and allow the regions water stores to begin replenishing.
‘The idea is that you pay farmers not to cultivate anything in their field for a particular growing season and the water that they would have applied for irrigation can then be repurposed for other uses,’ he said.
Alfalfa is another water-hungry crop that farmers in the Colorado River basin grow to keep cattle fed
‘It can be diverted to increase urban water availability or used to increase environmental flows and the water available for natural systems.’
‘We’ve found that fallowing programs are really effective in terms of saving water or effectively repurposing it.’
Such a policy could be useful in other parts of the the country, where 23 percent of all water used in any given year goes to farming crops for cattle feed.
While the effects of depleting water stores are specific to the Colorado River basin, the beef produced there is sent all across the country–including to Portland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles
“Cattle play an important role in food security and nutrition, but their environmental impacts can be large,’ Davis said.
‘Ensuring that beef and cattle feed are produced in places where water resources are relatively abundant can help to achieve balance between satisfying our diets and protecting the environment.’
‘In all, it’s good to have knowledge of where your food comes from and what natural resources it requires in order for each person to make more informed food choices.’