Management of the Colorado River System Research Paper

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Updated: Mar 12th, 2024

Introduction

The Colorado River serves as one of the major water suppliers to several areas of the United States of America, which are usually hot and arid. It serves close to over thirty million people with water for domestic and commercial purposes in the states of Arizona, Nevada, California, Utah, and Colorado, among other states, as illustrated in appendix1(Msnbc.com,2007). The area coverage of the river basin is illustrated in appendix 6.

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The Colorado River waters are used in the farmlands, as well as serving the nation with hydroelectric power generation, which accounts for about thirteen billion electricity kilowatts per year. The river waters are even used for recreational purposes such as watering golf courses along the river basin, as illustrated in the picture appendix 1 (Msnbc.com,2007)Basically this river plays a very vital economic role in the southwestern states of America, as well as in Mexico.

Due to its strategic role, management and regulation of the Colorado River have become a key issue of concern in the United States. Competition over the river waters has steadily increased as a result of substantial population growth, and this has led to legal and political confrontations over the river’s water competition (Colorado River management overview, n.d).

The call for water management in the Colorado River

The pressure exerted on the Colorado river as a result of continued population growth, drought spells, global warming among other factors, is calling for urgent intervention measures to save the river from extinction. Experts warn that the Americans and other people who rely on water from the river should expect more worsening status of the river (Msnbc.com, 2007). Drought effects have been manifested in the Powell reservoir on the Colorado River basin, which serves as a water bank for states downstream. Drought conditions have also led to the complete drying of various parts of the river (as evidenced in appendix 5). This calls for drought intervention and management measures and strategies to help save the river and its dependants as noted by Keyantash &Dracup (2002).

The rate at which states along the river basin are consuming the Colorado River waters is on the increase in contrast to declining volumes of the river as a result of drought conditions among other factors. This is illustrated in the table below.

Colorado rover basin depletion projections.

Reclamation of the Colorado River

The United States Bureau of Reclamation has commissioned various water authorities and agencies in programs aimed at the reclamation of the deteriorating Colorado River basin. The south Nevada water authorities, as well as two California water agencies, have been commissioned so far (Msnbc.com, 2007). Growing cities have pressurized states to seal deals on water rights with farmers, as well as building ideological solutions based on water conservation or technologies on water-saving technologies (Keys, 2006).

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The bureau of reclamation has been mandated the authority to arrive at operational decisions aimed at managing the Colorado River system, through various water management projects. The bureau is also involved in the provision of technical assistance specifically to states as well as local agencies such as irrigation districts in regard to alternatives in water management (Colorado River Basin Water Management, 2007).

Reclamation of the Colorado River system is evidenced by numerous water reservoirs on its course such as the one illustrated in appendix 7. Through the bureau of reclamation, the river the Colorado River basin has observed various progress as evidenced in many ongoing and completed projects in the management of the river system. (Appendices 8 and 9)

Inflow to Lake Powell

  • 2000 – 62%
  • 2001 – 59%
  • 2002 – 25%
  • 2003 – 51%
  • 2004 – 49%
  • 2005 – 105%
  • 2006 – 73%
  • 2007 – 68%
  • 2008 – 102%

Systems of reservoirs along the Colorado River were designed in a move geared towards protecting the river system from adverse effects of drought. The lake Powell reservoir on the river basin is an example. The reservoir acts as a water bank which is drawn in times of droughts for domestic and industrial use. States along the Colorado River basin signed a historical Colorado River compact. Under the policies of the compact, states receive a varying degree of entitlements in the use of the water of the river. As a requirement of the compact, states downstream i.e. Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico are entitled to more water usage in times of droughts, since they are the most affected states by drought conditions (Booker &Young,1994).

Water management deals by states in the upper and lower Colorado River basin have been fruitful, and the building of the Powell reservoir has greatly impacted the river management positively (Managing water in west, 2009). This has made inflows in the reservoir observe a rising trend even though the drought has been undermining its volume. This is illustrated on the table below:

Inflow to Lake Powell

  • 2000 – 62%
  • 2001 – 59%
  • 2002 – 25%
  • 2003 – 51%
  • 2004 – 49%
  • 2005 – 105%
  • 2006 – 73%
  • 2007 – 68%
  • 2008 – 102%

The Colorado River Storage Project Act (CRSP) of 1956, significantly impacted on the management of water in the upper Colorado River. The Acts provides for a regulation of water storage to serve the entitlements of the states at the lower basin of the river. The main stem units covered by the CRSP are illustrated in the figure in appendix 4 (Colorado River Storage Project, 2008).

As a drought preparedness strategy, states along the Colorado river basin in solidarity agreed on coordinated management of the river, particularly at lake Mead ands Lake Powell which are two important water reservoirs on the basin. The interstate cooperation in regards with rivers water shortages also came up with plans and drought mitigation measures to help curb depletion of water storage levels as well as river flows (Colorado River Basin Water Management, 2007). Programs at municipal level have also been initiated to educate the users of water from the Colorado River. Such programs have been successful as they have helped in water use efficiency and reduction of water demands in urban settings (DOI and USBR, 2004).

Policies have been developed to monitor and protect the river system while utilizing its waters. For instance, the state of Arizona, through its department of water resources has come up with a policy and procedures in the transfer of entitlement of the Colorado River water. The policy statement applies to entitlements the state has allocated in utilizing the Colorado River waters in irrigation, municipal and industrial purposes. These entitlements restrict and limit the quantity of water, which an entitlement holder may consume, so that completion on the river waters may be fair to all beneficiaries (Garrick & Jacobs, 2006).

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The Arizona water resources department has used beneficially by the entitlement holders. The department ascertains that before allocating an entitlement, the entity receiving the entitlement must demonstrate its ability that it will use the water beneficially, and must be in line with the current or existing water demands as per the requirements of the state’s municipal and industrial projections on water demands (Herbert, 2004).

Conclusion

The Colorado River has been centre-stage feature historically, and in the development of the western parts of America. Efforts on the management of the Colorado River basin exemplify the communities struggle in overcoming the conflicting issues regarding competing interests over the river’s shared water resources. This has been worsened by drought conditions in various parts along the river basin, increase in population growth and increase of water demands in the domestic and industrial sectors. Colorado River basin has registered several developments through various conservation and management programs initiated jointly by the states along the river basin. Policies developed in regard to the management of the river have also contributed much in its management.

References

Booker, J. F. & Young, R. A. (1994). Modeling intrastate and interstate markets for Colorado River water resources. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 26: 66-87.

, (n.d). Web.

Colorado River management overview (n.d). Web.

Colorado River Storage Project. (2008). Upper Colorado Region. Web.

DOI and USBR (U.S. Bureau of Reclamation). (2006). Colorado River Accounting and Water Use Report: Arizona, California, and Nevada: Calendar Year 2004. Web.

Garrick, D. & Jacobs. (2006). Water management on the Colorado River: From Surplus to shortage in five years. Southwest Hydrology 5(3): 8-9.

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Herbert, R. G. (2004). Arizona department of water resources. Substantive Water policy statement. Web.

Keyantash, J. & Dracup, A. (2002). The quantification of drought: An evaluation of Drought indices. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 83(8): 1167-1180.

Keys, J. (2006). Cooperation key to Reclamation’s future water works. Southwest Hydrology 5(2): 26-27.

Msnbc.com staff and news service reports: Colorado River management. (2007). Web.

Reclamation: upper Colorado region. Managing water in the west (2009). Web.

Water development, Extraction and diversion (n.d) CP-LUHNA. Web.

Water Science and Technology Board (WSTB) (2007). Colorado River Basin Water Management: Evaluating and Adjusting to Hydro climatic Variability. The National Academies press. Web.

Appendices

States through which the Colorado River passes through.
Appendix 1 states through which the Colorado River passes through.
Experts: Even worse water shortages possible due to warming, population.
Appendix 2. Experts: Even worse water shortages possible due to warming, population.

Joe Cavaretta / AP
Water from the Colorado River is used for everything from farming to golf, like this course in Las Vegas, Nev., where water use doubled from 1985 to 2000.

Lake Powell’s low lake level
Lake Powell’s low lake level.

Colorado river storage project mainstem units

A dried-up arm of the Colorado River near the town of El Mayor, Mexico.
Appendix 5 A dried-up arm of the Colorado River near the town of El Mayor, Mexico.
The Colorado River basin. 
The Colorado River basin.
A reclaimed part of the Colorado reservoirs, park dam.
Appendix 7 a reclaimed part of the Colorado reservoirs, park dam.

Appendix 8. The Central Arizona Project: The first photograph shows the uptake pipes at Lake Havasu, the water source for CAP. The middle photograph shows a section of desert canal. The third photograph is the pumping station in Tucson, where the canal system ends. Photographs courtesy of the Bureau of Reclamation.

The Central Arizona Project

Appendix 9. Lower Colorado River. Photo courtesy Bureau of Reclamation.

Lower Colorado River

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