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From Source to Sea

From Source to Sea

John Waterman’s Journey – From Source to Sea

Jonathan WatermanJonathan Waterman is renowned for wild mountaineering trips, long river descents, and arduous wilderness traverses-documented in ten different books and several award-winning films. In 2008, “Jon” launched his 1,450-mile journey down the Colorado: balancing the expected whitewater adventure with weeks of solitude, meetings with scientists and water operators, a ten-day walk through the dried-out delta, and-thanks to the fast-talking Spanish of his companions-convincing a well armed squad of Mexican soldiers that they were not drug smugglers. Until his journey, the full descent of the Colorado River had never been completed. Now Jon believes that it should not be undertaken again until the river reaches the sea. His new narrative book Running Dry: A Journey from Source to Sea Down the Colorado River will be available in mid May from National Geographic Books. In September, partnering with the acclaimed photographer Pete McBride, Westcliffe Publishers/Big Earth will release their photography book, The Colorado River: Flowing through Conflict. Their call for action is to restore river water to the dried out delta and its estuary. jonathanwaterman.com

The photo gallery shows the issues and challenges that Jon confronted during his five-month long, source-to-sea journey.

Never Summer Mountains' Grand Ditch above the river, diverting headwaters east over the Rockies
Kawuneeche Valley headwaters and lodgepole pine devastated by beetles
Elk, seen here in Rocky Mountain National Park, are found throughout the headwaters
The largest natural body of water in Colorado, Grand Lake, dwarfed by distant reservoirs
Dillon Reservoir holding Colorado River water to be diverted beneath the Rockies to Denver
Colorado - Big Thompson Penstocks (left) diverting river under Longs Peak to Longmont, Colorado
A sea of beetle-killed pine and a river gone stream below Shadow Mountain Dam, Colorado
Gold medal waters sometimes diverted dry by Denver and ranching diversions, Parshall, Colorado
Rocky Mountain bighorn, on South Platte River (with diverted Colorado River water) near Denver
Although 78% of the river goes to agriculture, water-efficient irrigation is rare
Water fight near Radium, one of the most popular river floats in all of Colorado
Despite western growth and water development, the river still offers a glimmer of wilderness
Tributary Creek, Snowmass Mountain: a worsening drought will cripple ski areas and snowmaking
One of many oil and gas settling ponds close to the river, Parachute, Colorado
January near Palisade, Colorado, alongside I-70
Tamarisk dominated river banks beneath Fisher Towers and the La Salle Mountains, Utah
The Green-Colorado confluence above Cataract Canyon
Flooded San Juan River confluence of the Colorado River, Lake Powell
Waterman inside a restored kiva, Three Roof Ruin, Escalante River
Lake Powell bathtub rings crowding La Gorce Arch, Davis Gulch off Escalante River
Sprinklers on water-consumptive landscaping, with Lake Powell in drought at Glen Canyon Dam, Arizona
Barrel cactus in Grand Canyon, Arizona
Jon Waterman prepares his river craft and his nerves for rapid 231 in the lower Grand Canyon
Jon Waterman paddle boarding his way down a river heavily impacted by Hoover Dam and Lake Mead. Lower Grand Canyon
Glasenapp finessing Mile 231 Rapid, Grand Canyon West, Arizona
Brian Dierker, Grand Canyon river master, and Waterman mourning a river's death, Lake Mead
Lilliputian kayaker Brian Dierker (center) beneath huge bathtub rings on the shrinking Lake Mead
Las Vegas takes 90% of its water from Lake Mead, but the party's ending
Lake Mead: invasive zebra mussels have monopolized most reservoir waters from source to sea
Marshlands of Havasu National Wildlife Refuge near Topock Gorge, Arizona
Below Parker Dam, California, amid another idyllic utopia: a river growing trailer parks
Waterman breakfasting alone amid invasive tamarisk, downstream of Big Water, California
Great egrets flourish in reservoir water of the Lower Basin, Martinez Lake, Arizona
Grebe feeding subadult behind the waters of Imperial Dam, Martinez Lake, Arizona
Yuma, Arizona: Colorado River Delta water irrigates most Americans' winter lettuce
U.S. - Mexico fence, All American Canal diverting 1/5 of river 80 miles to Imperial Valley, California
River scum brackish farm drainage into the increasingly toxic Salton Sea, Imperial Valley, California
McBride looking for river water, a day's walk from the sea, Mexico
McBride in shock at an abandoned fishing boat on the parched river delta, Mexico
Native American Kwapa fisherman contemplating a river delta gone dry, Baja California, Mexico
Waterman crossing the delta - 90% of its wetlands lost to drought and dams
Sea of Cortez delta fishermen hard-hit by lack of shrimp, dependent upon river flow
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