# A perennial river not breaking into the sea....why?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perennial-river-not-breaking-into-the-sea-why/785055>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 23, 2017, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perennial-river-not-breaking-into-the-sea-why/785055 "2017-04-23T10:12:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perennial-river-not-breaking-into-the-sea-why/785055/21 "2017-04-24T05:55:03Z")

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The Alexander Archipelago contains a quantity of creepy karst caves.

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**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perennial-river-not-breaking-into-the-sea-why/785055/22 "2017-04-24T06:01:21Z")

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You’d need to be more specific Kam. There are certainly rivers such as the Murray from which so much water is extracted for agriculture that it seldom breaks out.

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**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perennial-river-not-breaking-into-the-sea-why/785055/23 "2017-04-24T18:21:04Z")

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Maybe it’s being diverted into tunnels to protect buried pirate treasure.

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**Author:** ![JcWoman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jcwoman/32/2889_2.png) [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perennial-river-not-breaking-into-the-sea-why/785055/24 "2017-04-24T18:51:07Z")

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Doesn’t the Colorado River count as one that no longer empties into the ocean? It used to, but due to being dammed and lots of water siphoned off for farm irrigation, it peters out somewhere south of Las Vegas.

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**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perennial-river-not-breaking-into-the-sea-why/785055/25 "2017-04-24T19:26:47Z")

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It made it to the ocean on 15 May 2014. [National Geographic Society Newsroom – Ideas and Insight From National Geographic](http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2014/05/19/a-sacred-reunion-the-colorado-river-returns-to-the-sea/)

There is an ongoing attempt at remediation. [Restoring the Colorado River Estuary](https://sonoraninstitute.org/card/restoring-the-colorado-river-estuary/)

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