The Colorado River is best known as the principal river of the southern United States and Mexico, but it may soon lose that title. About 1,500 miles long, the river is a vital water source for agricultural and urban areas in the southern desert lands of North America. However, over the past decade or so, the river has begun to deteriorate. There are many causes and solutions to the deterioration of the Colorado River. The Colorado River is made up of small streams created by a huge amount of snowmelt from the Rocky Mountains. River ecology and flow vary greatly from region to region. The river is divided into two different regions, the Upper Basin and the Lower Basin. Starting in the early 1900s, Western states began building dams in the Colorado River, diverting the flow of water to rapidly growing cities such as Los Angeles, San Diego, and Phoenix. The river now serves over 30 million people in the southwestern United States and Mexico (Patrick 1). Diverting water from the nation's seventh-longest river may seem like a great achievement, but to others this is a major crime against nature. In the last two years the river has dropped significantly, due to the drought that hit the southwest. At the edge of the lake you can observe the “pool rings”, lines in the rock walls that show the lowering of the water level. It has been recorded in some areas of the river that the water has dropped 130 feet since 2000. Some water resources officials say those areas will never be filled to normal. Surrounding states must adapt to living with less water or more action will need to be taken to save river water. There has been talk of adding water to the river to replenish the river, but nothing has happened... halfway through the paper... and reusing return flows before developing new diversion projects can help the Colorado River recover back to normality (Johnson 13). There are many causes and solutions to the deterioration of the Colorado River. The Colorado River is no longer the great river it once was, with abundant healthy water, thriving wildlife, and abundant plant life. With climate change, water salinity, pollution and natural runoff, river water quality has significantly deteriorated. However, if communities and environmental groups join forces to research and raise funds to find ways to help improve the Colorado River, it could return to its original condition. This issue affects those who live near the river, concluding that I live somewhere near the river, I would like to see a change in the conditions of the river not only to help the nature around it, but to help myself and others.