Denver Sustainability Issues

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For the city of Denver and Colorado as a whole, environmental and sustainability issues are steadily increasing. Particularly in regards to its surrounding rivers. Just like many other issues that we have in our societies, they are never caused by just one thing, rather a multitude of dimensions including scientific, financial, political, and ethical principles. When all of these principles are combined, the amount of complexity in making decisions increases exponentially. In the past, many cities have struggled to benefit both the rivers and society. Likewise, the city of Denver will struggle in the future if the right direction is not taken in regards to its surrounding environment and its rivers. However recently, Denver’s city government …show more content…
Making beneficial decisions such as these will not only ensure a good future for the Denver area’s rivers and the city, but will also serve as an example for other cities to model themselves after. In the past few years, Denver has done some very extensive work on the water quality of their rivers (South Platte). Since the mining era of the 1800s and before the Clean Water Act, rivers such as Bear Creek, Clear Creek and others have all struggled with depressions in water quality and quantity (Urban Drainage). However now in the Denver area, though droughts are common, the water is managed very well with the city’s multiple reservoirs, water treatment plants, and more sustainable practices. “[Water management] is far from perfect, but the initiative is there and the direction is right (Clayshulte). There still remain heavy threats from floods and in particular the massive flood of 2013. During this …show more content…
There are numerous rivers and creeks in the Denver area. Almost all of these serve as multi-use areas. These areas serve as ways of transportation and recreations in the ways if bike paths, kayak routes, and ecological areas. Areas such as these include the South Platte River, including its heavily used bike path, its kayak parks, and its use as a water source and habitat for the surrounding environment (South Platte). Doing this creates the wanted and needed services of the society that surrounds them, but it also develops good awareness in the public of when the river is not in good health. It is not just the South Platte River that utilizes this model either. Bear Creek, Cherry Cherry Creek and their respective reservoirs that they flow into are all categorized as multi-use areas. Most of the reservoirs are used as recreation areas, water storage, aeration systems, and flood control sites (Clayshulte). Though these are a necessity in western life, recreation is very important as well. These areas have been turned into recreational area such as boating, fishing, hiking and biking areas. “Having separated areas for recreation and service is much more expensive for cities than multi-use areas. What is great about many of Denver’s parks is that they function as recreational facilities and provide the needed services of water and flood control to the community they are surrounded by.
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