Disappearing Rio Grande

The Expedition


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Post: Heading up to Stony Pass, Day 2
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Post: Headed for the Gulf, Day 3
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Post: Magic-Carpet Ride, Day 4
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Post: Ranch is Managed to Protect the Rio Grande, Day 5
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Post: This River is For Fishing, Day 6
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Post: Little Bugs Bring Big Changes to Forest, Day 7
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Post: Turtle's Hunt for Gold, Day 8
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Post: The Big Gauge, Day 9
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Post: The Valley From the Air, Day 10
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Post: Rebuilding the River, Day 12
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Post: Why They Go to Meetings, Day 13
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Post: Dammed River, Day 14
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Post: Testing the Water, Day 15
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Post: Alamosa and the Wildlife Refuge, Day 17
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Post: Just Enough Rain for Rainbows, Day 18
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Post: Horses, Snakes and Sheep, Day 19
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Post: Goodbye Colorado, Day 20
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Post: Hello New Mexico, Day 21
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Post: Classic Class V, Day 24
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Post: Running La Junta, Day 25
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Post: From the Red River to the Red Planet, Day 26
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Post: Going Under, Day 27
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Post: Searching for a New Solution, Day 28
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Post: Running the Racecourse, Day 30
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Post: Ghosts and Gauges, Day 31
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Post: Life Choices, Day 32
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Post: The Different Sides of the Rio Grande, Day 33
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Post: The Problem, Day 34
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Post: A River of Mud, Day 35
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Post: Erich's Adventure, Day 38
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Post: Keeping the Work in House, Day 39
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Post: The Writing on the Bow, Day 40
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Post: Taking a Break, Day 41
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Post: A connection to the river, Day 52
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Post: The 8:30 a.m. call, Day 53
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Post: Priorities, Day 54
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Post: Habitat restoration, Day 55
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Post: Droughts, floods and farming, Day 56
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Post: A gross problem, Day 57
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Post: The limits of a river, Day 59
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Post: The present and the past on the Rio Grande, Day 60
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Post: Coming back around, Day 61
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Post: To know a river, Day 62
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Post: Taking the river to court, Day 63
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Post: A farmer's view, day 64
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Post: It's a small world, Day 66
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Post: The new flood plain, Day 67
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Post: Running on low, Day 68
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Post: Following the mud, Day 69
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Post: Faster than we could have hoped, Day 70
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Post: Elephant Butte Dam, Day 71
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Post: Walking and hoping to float, Day 72
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Post: Water for Texas, Day 73
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Post: A better use for water? Day 75
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Post: Walking through a painting, Day 76
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Post: Answers on a rest day, Day 77
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Post: Planting a tree along the Rio Sand, Day 78
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Post: Digging for water, Day 79
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Post: Bring the fish back, Day 80
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Post: The big ask, Day 81
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Post: Farming both sides of the line, Day 82
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Post: Walking to Texas, Day 83
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Post: Walking to Smeltertown, Day 84
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Post: Using the sewer to bring the river back, day 86
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Post: Walking outside the fence, Day 87
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Post: Heading home, Day 88
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Post: Headed back to El Paso
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Post: Road trip, Day 102
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Post: When a river runs dry, Day 103
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Post: The big fear, Day 104
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Post: What is old is new again, Day 105
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Post: Time to go to work, Day 106
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Post: Misery Management, Day 107 and 108
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Post: Dogs and guns, Day 109
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Post: An adventure in the Quitman Mountains, Day 110
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Post: The cowboy, Day 111
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Post: The race against water, Day 112
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Post: Take away the water, Days 114 and 115
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Post: It's easier to break the law, Day 116
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Post: The long road, Day 117
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Post: The hunt for water, Day 118
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Post: What to do when the canals run dry, Day 119
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Post: Pushed to the breaking point, Days 121 and 122
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Post: The Local Solution, Day 123
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Post: Taking back the river, Day 124
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Post: Administrative Day, Day 125
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Post: Growing grass to save water, Day 126
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Post: A canyon to linger in, Day 129
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Post: Get it out of your system, Day 130
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Post: Midpoint, Day 131
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Post: Mariscal Canyon, Day 132
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Post: Hungry horses, Day 133
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Post: A lot of work, Days 135 and 136
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Post: A bright spot, day 137
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Post: A remote section of river, Day 138
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Post: Too much rain, Day 140
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Post: The rapids and tribulations of the Lower Canyons, Day 143
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Post: On our own, Day 144
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Post: Fly by, Day 145
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Post: Jack Skiles, Day 146
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Post: Lake mud, Day 148
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Post: Railroad tunnel to the Pecos, Days 149 and 150
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Post: The Devils Problem
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Post: Old books, Day 152
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Post: Time for a break at home, Day 154
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Post: Back on the River, Day 166
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Post: Deep history, Day 167
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Post: Cave Fishermen, Day 168
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Post: Crossing Amistad, Day 169
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Post: Amistad Dam, Day 170
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Post: San Felipe Del Rio, Day 171
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Post: The Changing River, Day 172
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Post: More rocks than water, Day 172
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Post: Quemado, Day 173
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Post: How to go fast down the Rio Grande, Day 174
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Post: Sewer and coal, Day 178
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Post: Warm Kickapoo welcome, Day 179
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Post: Is this dangerous? Day 180
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Post: Making it home for Christmas, Day 181
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Post: Crossing the Rio Grande, Day 182
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Post: Don't drink the water, Day 183
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Post: The last reach of the Rio Grande
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Post: Falcon Dam, Day 200
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Post: Safer than it was, Day 201
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Post: Bringing the river back, Day 202
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Post: Expectations, Day 203
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Post: Foresight, Day 206
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Post: Footprints, Day 207
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Post: Moving the river, Day 208
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Post: Utility, Day 209
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Post: Too cold to stay still, Day 210
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Post: Nice folks, Day 211
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Post: Goodbye Keith, Day 213
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Post: Sabal palm, Day 215
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Post: Getting Close, Day 216
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Post: Water for shrimp, Day 217
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Post: Protecting the river, Day 218
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Post: The last 12 miles, Day 219
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Post: The last 12 miles, Day 219
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Story: Why Follow the Rio Grande
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About

To report on and understand the haphazard irrigation system the Rio Grande has become and the changes it is going through, Colin decided the best approach would be to travel the length of the Rio Grande by foot and small boat.

He knew it would give him a unique perspective on a river that few understand. It did require many long days of moving slowly and camping on muddy riverbanks, but Colin likes that sort of thing.

The benefit was it provided access to people who wanted to share their stories and experiences with the Rio Grande. Via Facebook and chance encounters, Colin made instant friends who opened their homes. They provided help from loaning their trucks to their cell phone contact lists to help tell the story of the Rio Grande.

The trip would not have been possible without their help, along with the dedicated assistance of David Lozano, Jason Jones and Daniel Dibona, who drove thousands of miles to get people and boats in place.

Contributors

Reporter
Photojournalist
Jessica Lutz
Photojournalist
Mike Kane
Photojournalist
Project Editor
Barbara Hosler
Copy Editor
News Apps Team Lead | @rdmurphy
Google Journalism Fellow | @jessihamel
Web Designer | @been_hussln
Editor | @ATXjj