ABE - Case Study: The Colorado River (Lesson)

Case Study: The Colorado River

The Colorado River is of critical importance to not only the West but to the economy of the nation. The challenges today for Colorado River water users are similar to those of the past, to protect and manage this precious resource.

In the high peaks of the Rocky Mountains, the Colorado River begins its descent through the Grand Canyon, crosses into Mexico, and empties into the Gulf of California.

Today only a very small amount reaches the river's mouth. Instead, the waters of the Colorado River are impounded by massive dams to provide flood control, recreation, and hydroelectric power. Water is siphoned off for irrigation to make agriculture possible in the desert. It is piped to cities in canals and aqueducts to quench the thirst of 40 million people. Under the most aggressive growth scenario, that number could nearly double, to about 76 million people, by 2060. 

A 1992 treaty signed by Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, apportioned water according to the needs and negotiating power each state had at the time. Since the population has continued to grow, water has become a commodity that is in constant demand. 

New scientific data gathered from tree ring research show that megadroughts were common in the past, and climate modelers predict that global climate change will bring still more drought. The study details a 50-year Colorado River water supply and demand outlook. Based on a combination of population growth and climate models that show a general drying trend in the region, the river could be short by at least 3.2 million acre-feet by 2060, and perhaps by as much as 8 million acre-feet, according to the Colorado River Water Users Association.

In spring 2007, the states worked out a plan that allowed upper-basin states to withhold more water when needed and that encouraged the lower-basin states to develop supplies elsewhere.

 

The Colorado River Basin

 

Be sure to click here and read more about the Colorado River Shortage. Links to an external site.

 

RESOURCES IN THIS MODULE ARE OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES (OER) OR CREATED BY GAVS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED. SOME IMAGES USED UNDER SUBSCRIPTION.