美国国家公共电台 NPR--A portion of the Colorado River is among the 10 most endangered rivers in the country

A portion of the Colorado River is among the 10 most endangered rivers in the country

Transcript¹

A conservation group says pollution and climate change are among the pressures on rivers. A stretch of the Colorado River that flows through Grand Canyon² National Park is the most endangered river.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

A new report out today from the conservation group American Rivers names the 10 most endangered rivers in the country. Alex Hager from member station KUNC takes us to one of them, a stretch of the Colorado River that runs through the Grand Canyon.

ALEX HAGER, BYLINE³: To understand why a part of the drought-stricken Colorado River is in trouble, you have to start further upstream.

(SOUNDBITE OF FOOTSTEPS SPLASHING)

JACK⁴ STAUSS: It's easy for folks to forget about these zones as a big river system.

HAGER: Jack Stauss with the Glen Canyon Institute walks through a breathtaking red-rock canyon in southern Utah. He's about shin deep in a crystal-clear stream near the shores of Lake Powell, the nation's second largest reservoir.

STAUSS: But what's really important to remember is this whole system is connected. It's really all one basin. It's all one big river system.

HAGER: That system starts with snow high in the mountains of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. Left untouched, most of that snowmelt would flow down into Arizona's Grand Canyon, but that is not the case. Glen Canyon Dam forms this reservoir upstream, and the tightly controlled system that keeps it from drying up threatens to keep water out of the Grand Canyon.

SINJIN EBERLE: Both of the major issues that have already caused harm to the canyon are directly related to elevations⁵ in Lake Powell and the temperatures of the water.

HAGER: That's Sinjin Eberle with American Rivers. The first of those issues - invasive fish. Dropping water levels allow smallmouth bass⁶ to reach places they mostly didn't before. That poses a new threat to native fish in the Grand Canyon.

EBERLE: That is a direct impact from this drought and aridification and climate change and the reduced supply of water in the system.

HAGER: The second issue, Eberle says - the absence of high-flow events. That's when a wet year prompts water managers to send an extra burst of water down from Lake Powell into the Grand Canyon. That helps rebuild the Colorado River's beaches and animal habitats. But a string of dry years means there hasn't been an extra water boost since 2018. Eberle says that all starts to add up.

EBERLE: Yes, we need to do everything we can to stabilize⁷ the system, to reduce demand, to address the supply and demand imbalance on the Colorado River. But let's not do it on the back of a place like Grand Canyon.

HAGER: That's been a tough balance to strike when there isn't enough water to go around to the 30 native tribes, 40 million people and multibillion-dollar agricultural industry that depend on the Colorado River. Jen Pelz is water advocacy director for the Grand Canyon Trust.

JEN PELZ: If there was an easy solution, we would have found it by now. And so I think that the solutions going forward are complicated, and they will take sacrifices from all of the different sectors⁸.

HAGER: Those sacrifices are at the heart of policy talks going on right now. The fate of the Colorado River is tied to decisions made by leaders from Wyoming to Mexico. With about 80% of the river's water going to agriculture, those choices will have wide ranging implications.

PELZ: We need to start thinking more sustainably. And how is this river going to exist for my kids and my kids' kids and your kids and your kids' kids?

HAGER: Pelz says now is crunch⁹ time to make sure decisions prioritize the long-term health of the river and the Grand Canyon.

PELZ: And if we don't start thinking on that type of scale, long term, then, you know, the river's going to be diminished to a point where we're not going to be able to turn this thing around.

HAGER: The clock is ticking for states to rework how water from the Colorado River is shared before a major deadline in 2026. If they can't, the federal government has threatened to make tough water cuts for them.

For NPR News, I'm Alex Hager.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

5 elevations   

（水平或数量）提高( elevation的名词复数 )； 高地； 海拔； 提升

参考例句：

• Weight of the crust changes as elevations are eroded and materials are deposited elsewhere. 当高地受到侵蚀，物质沉积到别的地方时，地壳的重量就改变。
• All deck elevations are on the top of structural beams. 所有甲板标高线均指结构梁顶线。

6 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

7 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

8 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 crunch   

n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声

参考例句：

• If it comes to the crunch they'll support us.关键时刻他们是会支持我们的。
• People who crunch nuts at the movies can be very annoying.看电影时嘎吱作声地嚼干果的人会使人十分讨厌。