Section 03 of 04
Rivers
Divided between more claimants than there is water. Four pages, and the measurements behind them.
- 01The Colorado, divided in a wet decadeThe allocation was written when the river was running unusually high, and every argument since has been about arithmetic done at the wrong moment.
- 02Every claimant and the share on paperThe paper entitlements add up to more than the river has carried in most years since the agreement was signed.
- 03Lake Mead's bathtub ring as a legal instrumentThe pale band on the rock is a water level, and water levels trigger clauses — which makes a stain on a cliff a legal event.
- 04The delta, and the water sent to itThe river has not reliably reached the sea for decades, and the small deliberate releases since are measured experiments.