Abstract
The Colorado River is a critical source of water supply for 40 million people in nine states spanning two nations in western North America. Overallocated in the 20th century, its problems have been compounded by climate change in the 21st century. We review the basin’s hydrologic and water management history in order to identify opportunities for adaptive governance to respond to the challenge of reduced system flows and distill the ingredients of past successes. While significant advances have been made in the first two decades of the 21st century, these past actions have not been sufficient to halt the declines in the basin’s reservoirs. We find that the mix of federal, state, and local responsibility creates challenges for adaptation but that progress can be made through a combination of detailed policy option development followed by quick action at hydrologically driven moments of opportunity. The role of directives and deadlines from federal authorities in facilitating difficult compromises is noted. The current state of dramatically decreased overall flows has opened a window of opportunity for the adoption of water management actions that move the river system toward sustainability. Specific measures, based on the existing institutional framework and on policy proposals that have circulated within the Colorado River community, are suggested.
Highlights
The year 2021 witnessed unprecedented water supply challenges on the ColoradoRiver and the institutional reactions hardwired to meet those challenges
Our work aims to bridge the gaps among these three threads and better understand how they interweave through an analysis of the processes through which water management structures in the Colorado River basin have come together over the last three decades
Certain Native American tribes were substantively involved in state water management discussions and were, vital to the State of Arizona’s ability to accommodate the delivery reductions contemplated by the Lower Basin DCP
Summary
The year 2021 witnessed unprecedented water supply challenges on the Colorado. River and the institutional reactions hardwired to meet those challenges. On the water supply side, the reservoirs behind the river’s two largest dams—including Hoover. The icon of a generation of such facilities capable of reconfiguring entire river basins—dropped to the lowest levels since they were built in the 20th century [1]. Communities that depend on the river’s water, especially farmers and cities in the U.S state of Arizona, girded for cuts in the available supply in 2022 and engaged in feverish discussion about the risks of deeper cuts to come [3]. The Colorado River drains a watershed spanning a quarter of a million square miles (~650,000 square km) in the United States and Mexico (see Figure 1).
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