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LIFELINES to DISTANT CITIES

How has moving the water produced a variety of cities far from the river?
Unlike the great prehistoric and historic civilizations that lived near water resources, technology has made it possible to move the resources to distant and desert cities.
There was nothing inevitable about the shape, size, location or size of the modern form of cities we live in - but collectively they show the impact of Spanish missions, mining, agriculture, Mormon settlers, the federal presence in the form of railroads, the military, and the Bureau of Reclamation. Is there any place we cannot now live?

Indian Market in Santa Fe, the site of continuous confluence of cultures and exchange for 400 years. Santa Fe and Albuquerque both rely on water delivered by the San Juan Chama diversion. Courtesy of the photographer, Jack Parsons.
Indian Market in Santa Fe, the site of continuous confluence of cultures and exchange for 400 years. Santa Fe and Albuquerque both rely on water delivered by the San Juan Chama diversion. Courtesy of the photographer, Jack Parsons.

Pat Mulroy, General Manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority. Mulroy is positioning Nevada as an increasingly important player and voice in determining future use of the Colorado River. Courtesy of the photographer, Jim Laurie.
Pat Mulroy, General Manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority. Mulroy is positioning Nevada as an increasingly important player and voice in determining future use of the Colorado River. Courtesy of the photographer, Jim Laurie.
Contemporary Las Vegas skyline. Famous night lights supplied by hydroelectic power courtesy of Colorado River dams. Photograph courtesy of Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
Contemporary Las Vegas skyline. Famous night lights supplied by hydroelectic power courtesy of Colorado River dams. Photograph courtesy of Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
The San Diego skyline today, supported by the Metropolitan Water District, which is the largest public utility in the United States. Photographs courtesy of San Diego County Water Authority.
The San Diego skyline today, supported by the Metropolitan Water District, which is the largest public utility in the United States. Photographs courtesy of San Diego County Water Authority.

Switch yard. Courtesy of US Department of Interior, Bureau of Reclamation.
Switch yard. Courtesy of US Department of Interior, Bureau of Reclamation.

Phoenix is now the sixth largest city in the country. Maybe there is something in the Colorado River water that comes to town - the Arizona Diamondbacks were 2001 World Series Champions. Courtesy of Phoenix Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Phoenix is now the sixth largest city in the country. Maybe there is something in the Colorado River water that comes to town - the Arizona Diamondbacks were 2001 World Series Champions. Courtesy of Phoenix Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The recently completed Central Arizona Project (CAP) aqueduct zig-zags across the desert 336 miles from the river to the San Xavier Indian Reservation south of Tucson. Courtesy of CAP.
The recently completed Central Arizona Project (CAP) aqueduct zig-zags across the desert 336 miles from the river to the San Xavier Indian Reservation south of Tucson. Courtesy of CAP.
Salt Lake City - The counter part to the 19th century Mormon irrigation that fostered Salt Lake City is the20th- century development is the federally sponsored Central Utah Project (CUP).
Salt Lake City - Nineteenth-century Mormon irrigation was crucial to the development of Salt Lake City. The counter part for 20th- century development is the federally sponsored Central Utah Project (CUP). The Northern Utes made a number of bargains to allow construction of the CUP with the expectation that dams and reservoirs would be constructed for them. They are still waiting for their projects. Images show irrigated lands in the Bonneville Unit, Salt Lake City in the 1980s, and construction of the CUP. Courtesy of Special Collections Department, J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah.

Denver functioned as a gateway city to supply miners and gold fields in the 1860s and now is a sophisticated city supplying financial services for the Rocky Mountain West. Courtesy of Denver Metro Area Visitor Bureau.
Denver functioned as a gateway city to supply miners and gold fields in the 1860s and now is a sophisticated city supplying financial services for the Rocky Mountain West. Construction of the Big Thompson and other diversions through the mountains support a population on the east side of the Continental Divide. Courtesy of Denver Metro Area Visitor Bureau.

 

 

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