Managing Lower Colorado River

Abstract

The lower Colorado River system, which is managed by the Bureau of Reclamation (BuRec), comprises three major dams (Hoover, Davis, and Parker). There is a significant hydroelectric capacity in the southwestern system, but to make optimum use of the resource, it must be integrated with available thermal and nuclear sources. The major competing demands on the system are water supply, flood control, and energy production. BuRec and the Western Area Power Administration have undertaken an effort to explore alternative management strategies for the three dams. A model that incorporates a hierarchy of objectives as well as physical, institutional, and political constraints imposed on the system has been developed. It may be used to provide guidance to support the managers of the system in real time as they make hourly operating decisions over the next week. The model may also be used to explore alternative operating strategies for the lower Colorado. The process of formulating, developing, and implementing the model has affected the evolution of improved operations for the lower Colorado.