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Farmers fear dry future "Here's a more arresting thought," he said. "We've just gone through an event of that magnitude and we're not in a crisis." Uncertain future What no one can predict is how long the river can stand up against a persistent drought. One normal year of runoff could buy the states time and allow the reservoirs to level off. The question is whether normal has changed. "History suggests the river runs considerably less than what we have allocated," said Herb Guenther, director of Arizona's Department of Water Resources. "That would put us at a considerable deficit. We might have to start to readjust. There's no doubt about it, in the long term, it's very challenging." Even if the river never recovers to its historic highs of the past century, its elaborate plumbing system can sustain it, but probably with less certainty than in the past. "The fact is there is just not enough water to have everything we all want," said David "Sid" Wilson, general manager of the Central Arizona Project. "Some people are looking for a solution that guarantees security. Well, you can't guarantee anything." Not too many blocks from the downtown office where Doug Mellon runs his Yuma farm operation, the Colorado River nears the end of its 1,450 -mile journey, nearly exhausted, almost as drawn - looking as it is in Kremmling, Colo., near its start. Mellon can take most of the water he needs to grow the cotton, alfalfa, grain and winter vegetables on his 6,000 -acre operation. No one has forced him to cut back, but he has installed drip systems and he uses sprinklers, an investment that pays off year -round when he rents them out to construction companies looking for dust control. "We found the celery does great with sprinklers," he said. "We've found that using less water, we can grow crops better." He's aware, like Tim Dunn, that the drought has put a big bull's eye on Yuma and its water supply, and he's not opposed to helping out. There's some marginal cropland in Yuma and across the river in the Imperial Valley, he said, that could be fallowed without too much loss in production. But he looks at the cities that need water from the river and he worries that they're not willing to make the same sacrifices. "I don't want to restrict progress, but I think people building in Southern California and Phoenix ought to find another source of water," Mellon said. "This is not just an agriculture problem. Everybody has to compromise. In the urban areas, they're going to have to conserve. Maybe we can't afford all those green lawns. That river is not unlimited." If there is one thing that almost everyone along the Colorado has said, in one way or another, it is that the river will find a way around this obstacle as it always has, and so will the 30 million Westerners who live in this arid place. Because here in Yuma, where the water runs muddy and the current begins to slow, it is not the end of the river, only where the river ends. Print This I Email This I Most Popular I Subscribe I Larger Type I Smaller Type The Arizona Republic - Front Page • Local • Sports • Business • Arizona Living • Opinions • Ads 12 News - News • Weather • What's on 12 • About 12 • 12 News Bios • 12 News Today • Jobs at KPNX world & nation I the buzz I Arizona Republic print edition I politics scanners I traffic information I obituaries I photography and multimedia I video I education site map azcentral.com main I news I sports I money I entertainment I style travel health I families I food & home I shop I espafiol I weather I maps Page 5 of 6 http:// www. azcentral .comispecialslspecia1061 articles /0722colorado- future.html 7/27/2004