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July 26 – August 2, 2008 with Eric Wood, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Together with your family, learn about the complicated issues surrounding water use in the U.S. West while rafting the mighty Colorado. A Vanishing Treasures Program.

The Colorado River is over 1400 miles long, collecting water from a watershed that is over 248,000 square miles in size. The river network collects the majority of its water from the high-mountain country of the Colorado Rockies, San Juans, Wind River Range in Wyoming, and Unitas in Utah. Finding a way to move the water from the high country to the lower basin became the impetus for developing the intricate and convoluted plumbing system of the Colorado River that began in the early 1900's. This is a plumbing system that today has over 65 dams, numerous irrigation diversions, and over 20 tunnels that take water from the Colorado River to large megalopolises with unsustainable infrastructure—swimming pools and water fountains, golf courses by the hundreds, and a population of people who are bound and determined to turn the West into a replica of something that it cannot support.

Has this modern marvel of engineering resulted in the loss of one of the most remarkable river systems in the world? This and other questions are driving the debate over the future of water in the West. The way we address these questions and our resulting actions will require balancing our environmental needs with societal and political demands.

Under the direction of Professor Eric Wood and expert river guides, we will raft a 100-mile stretch of the Colorado River through Cataract Canyon in Canyonlands National Park. Here the Colorado remains relatively unobstructed by upstream dams and still runs free through one of the most exceptional canyons in the Southwest, offering a unique perspective of how this region may have appeared to early explorers and Native Americans. Throughout our journey there will be daily opportunities for side canyon exploration and riverside discussions of the geographic landscape, weather patterns, geologic character, history, water quality and quantity, river ecosystem and the overall management of this overburdened watershed.

The Princeton Journeys team recommends this journey for travelers age seven and older.

About the Study Leader
Eric Wood, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, will serve as study leader for this program.

While much of his early work focused on the systems analysis aspects of water science, his interests today lie primarily in the area of hydroclimatology, with an emphasis on land-atmosphere interactions and the hydrologic effects from climate change.

Originally from British Columbia, Professor Wood conducted the majority of his studies at MIT, prior to coming to teach at Princeton in 1976. His body of work in the field of hydrology has been widely recognized. He is a fellow of both the American Meteorological Society and the American Geophysical Union and was recently awarded the 2007 Dalton Medal from the European Geophysical Union.

To make reservations, fill out the form in the brochure or contact Princeton Journeys at (609) 258-8686 or journeys@princeton.edu.