Alternative Management Paradigms for the Future of the Colorado and Green Rivers
Dates
Publication Date
2021-02-05
Citation
Kevin Wheeler, Eric Kuhn, Lindsey Bruckerhoff, Brad Udall, Jian Wang, Lael Gilbert, Sara Goeking, Alan Kasprak, Bryce Mihalevich, Bethany Neilson, Homa Salehabadi, and John C Schmidt, 2021-02-05, Alternative Management Paradigms for the Future of the Colorado and Green Rivers: .
Summary
Our ability to sustainably manage the Colorado River is clearly in doubt. The Bureau of Reclamation’s 2012 Water Supply and Demand Study demonstrated the precarious balance that currently exists between water supply and the amount consumptively used by society. A future with either declining water supplies or additional consumptive uses will undoubtedly upset this balance. This balance is threatened, because: • Climate change science predicts that watershed runoff will decline due to increased evapotranspiration from rising temperatures; and • Water users, especially in the Upper Basin, aspire to increase consumptive uses by developing new projects. This white paper describes how declining runoff and increased consumptive use will [...]
Summary
Our ability to sustainably manage the Colorado River is clearly in doubt. The Bureau of Reclamation’s 2012 Water Supply and Demand Study demonstrated the precarious balance that currently exists between water supply and the amount consumptively used by society. A future with either declining water supplies or additional consumptive uses will undoubtedly upset this balance. This balance is threatened, because:
• Climate change science predicts that watershed runoff will decline due to increased evapotranspiration from rising temperatures; and
• Water users, especially in the Upper Basin, aspire to increase consumptive uses by developing new projects.
This white paper describes how declining runoff and increased consumptive use will impact water supplies and ecosystems, and also considers how these risks can be addressed.
