美国国家公共电台 NPR--A Colorado water policy group goes rafting to watch the Colorado River system refill

A Colorado water policy group goes rafting to watch the Colorado River system refill

Transcript¹

Climate change is predicted to shrink the Colorado River. But right now, there's more snow melt than the river has seen in decades. That's good for fish, birds and people who enjoy rafting.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Hey, the Rocky Mountains received a lot of snow last winter, and that melting snow has filled the streams that flow into the Colorado River. It is such a change that the surrounding states have paused their negotiations² over who gets how much water from a river that has been stressed and is still. Alex Hager with member station KUNC reports from the riverside.

(SOUNBITE OF WATER SPLASHING)

ALEX HAGER, BYLINE³: Ken⁴ Brenner is sitting on the yellow rubber edge of a huge inflatable raft as the boat splashes through the Yampa River.

KEN BRENNER: We're flying along. There's, like, no way in the world you could run this fast along the side of the river.

HAGER: The Yampa cuts through wide sagebrush plains and dramatic red rock canyons⁵ in northern Colorado. And this year, it is full. Water is the highest it's been in more than a decade.

BRENNER: Well, it's like a roller coaster, only there's no rail. It's - you're all at the mercy of the water and your helmsman.

HAGER: Brenner grew up on a ranch⁶ near the river and now has a role in state water policy. He's one of 30 people on an educational trip down the river where snowmelt is rushing downstream. That leaves a bumpy⁷ ride of big rapids, even for an experienced guide like Alyssa Schaffer.

ALYSSA SCHAFFER: Every time we come around the corner, we don't know what to expect. Are we going to see big holes that we have to avoid, or is camp going to be harder to catch? Is there going to be an eddy⁸ there? All kinds of unexpected, amazing stuff happening.

HAGER: This year has been an exceptionally wet one across the Southwest. Extraordinary snow in the Rocky Mountains is rushing through the Yampa. Matt Rice, with the conservation group American Rivers, is sitting on its banks.

MATT RICE: We are quite literally⁹ being saved by the Yampa basin right now.

HAGER: The Yampa flows into the Colorado River on its way to Lake Powell, which is projected to climb almost 70 feet this year.

RICE: When every molecule¹⁰ of water is important, right? The Yampa is delivering on such a monster scale right now.

SCHAFFER: Lindsey Marlow runs the conservation group Friends of the Yampa and says a wet year means more than just refilling reservoirs.

LINDSEY MARLOW: When we talk about the Greater Colorado system, we really focus on it as, like, a commodity, like we're buying and trading. And we seem to forget the people and the habitats and the animals and the fish along the way.

HAGER: And a lot of that flora¹¹ and fauna¹² is thriving this year.

(SOUNDBITE OF BIRDS CHIRPING)

HAGER: Underwater, endangered native fish are seeing conditions primed for reproduction. And all that water is moving around sediment¹³, creating and maintaining better habitats for them in the future. Marlow says it's facts like those that get lost in big conversations about water management.

MARLOW: We don't know, by changing things and controlling things, how much that affects the greater whole. And when people don't feel the effects, they tend to ignore them.

HAGER: As the region's water managers make decisions about that big picture, they're facing the reality that one wet winter will not save the Colorado River. Even after a big, new agreement to keep more water in reservoirs for the next three years, it'll take more than temporary conservation to support rivers around the West. Audrey Turner, also on this trip, is enjoying a sunny stretch of flat water, a break from the rapids. She's with the Colorado River District, a water policy agency.

AUDREY TURNER: It's important for us to be grateful and appreciate what Mother Nature gave us and recognize that it might not be here again for an unknown period of time.

HAGER: For NPR News, I'm Alex Hager on the Yampa River.

(SOUNDBITE OF ANDREW BIRD'S "HOVER II")

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 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

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 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

5 canyons   

n.峡谷( canyon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This mountain range has many high peaks and deep canyons. 这条山脉有许多高峰和深谷。 来自辞典例句
• Do you use canyons or do we preserve them all? 是使用峡谷呢还是全封闭保存？ 来自互联网

6 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

7 bumpy   

adj.颠簸不平的，崎岖的

参考例句：

• I think we've a bumpy road ahead of us.我觉得我们将要面临一段困难时期。
• The wide paved road degenerated into a narrow bumpy track.铺好的宽阔道路渐渐变窄，成了一条崎岖不平的小径。

8 eddy   

n.漩涡，涡流

参考例句：

• The motor car disappeared in eddy of dust.汽车在一片扬尘的涡流中不见了。
• In Taylor's picture,the eddy is the basic element of turbulence.在泰勒的描述里，旋涡是湍流的基本要素。

9 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

10 molecule   

n.分子，克分子

参考例句：

• A molecule of water is made up of two atoms of hygrogen and one atom of oxygen.一个水分子是由P妈̬f婘̬ 妈̬成的。
• This gives us the structural formula of the molecule.这种方式给出了分子的结构式。

11 flora   

n.(某一地区的)植物群

参考例句：

• The subtropical island has a remarkably rich native flora.这个亚热带岛屿有相当丰富的乡土植物种类。
• All flora need water and light.一切草木都需要水和阳光。

12 fauna   

n.(一个地区或时代的)所有动物，动物区系

参考例句：

• This National Park is an area with unique fauna and flora.该国家公园区域内具有独特的动物种群和植物种群。
• Fauna is a biological notion means all the animal life in a particular region or period. 动物群是一个生物学的概念，指的是一个特定时期或者地区的所有动物。

13 sediment   

n.沉淀，沉渣，沉积(物)

参考例句：

• The sediment settled and the water was clear.杂质沉淀后，水变清了。
• Sediment begins to choke the channel's opening.沉积物开始淤塞河道口。