Suddenly hundreds of whitewater boaters were able to ply the lively waters of the Chama throughout the Summer season. With recreational releases, the germ of an idea of modifying water operations to create secondary benefits, was planted in New Mexico. In 1996, the inevitable drought occurred. In the Middle Rio Grande, the river was as dry as the Sahara. Henceforth, the endangered condition of an aquatic species would command our official, if often grudging, consideration.
Altruism is a possible response to great threatening challenges.
Our great thirsts now exceed the available supply. Denial is a pathological psychological condition and my EMT textbook mentions it as one of the frequent symptoms of a heart attack. An older friend of mine quite recently went through a triple by-pass heart operation, and as he was recovering and feeling well enough to go home, he got into a conversation with the technician who'd been taking his vital signs during his stay in the hospital. I've had the best care known to medical science. Colorado even righteously claimed they owned the waters that originated in the snowfields of their state, until the US Supreme Court told them otherwise, in 1907.