Future of the Colorado River program set Oct. 5

The Lewes Public Library’s Science and Society lecture series will welcome professor Jack Schmidt of Utah State University at 5 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 5, for a live, online conversation about the future of the Colorado River.

For much of the Southwest, the Colorado River is a critical lifeline,  supplying water for farms, power generators and cities as far away as Los Angeles. But it is in trouble.

A warming climate has reduced river flows; Lake Mead and Lake Powell have shrunk to less than 50 percent capacity; and climate models suggest the flow could drop by another 30 percent by 2050.

Recent studies indicate that in a drier future, all the demands for the Colorado River’s water cannot be met while still protecting sensitive ecosystems and endangered species. Schmidt will discuss how these grim forecasts set the stage for upcoming negotiations over allocation of the Colorado’s water – and the future of the river itself.

Schmidt is a professor in the Department of Watershed Sciences and holds the Janet Quinney Lawson Chair in Colorado River Studies at Utah State University. He has devoted more than 30 years of research to the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River, focusing on the relationship of ecosystem health and the dams, reservoirs and diversions associated with river management. He works to encourage collaboration among federal and state agencies, tribal interests, nongovernmental organizations, and academic institutions in an effort to ensure that policies for the river are based on sound science.

The event is part of the Lewes Public Library’s Science and Society - Making Sense of the World Around Us lecture series and will be moderated by Colin Norman, former news editor at Science, and Fred Dylla, executive director emeritus of the American Institute of Physics and author of “Scientific Journeys.”

To register, go to lewes.lib.de.us and visit the Virtual Programs for Adults page.