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A map of the physical boundaries of the Colorado River Basin

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Despite its namesake, the Colorado River services more than just the state of Colorado. Large swathes of the western region of the United States are reliant upon water from the Colorado River, including the states of California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming in addition to Colorado. Additionally, the Colorado River also stretches slightly into northern Mexico, though it will be discussed later why it is not responsible for supporting this region.

Source:
Colorado River. Feeding Ourselves Thirsty. (n.d.).

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Economic Importance of the Colorado River

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The influence of the Colorado River stretches beyond the physical boundaries of its watershed. Its water is carried beyond its boundaries to support large cities in its respective states. It is difficult to overstate just how important the Colorado River is for powering the region. In total, the Colorado River Basin provides water to nearly 40 million people, and supports an estimated 1.6 trillion dollars in economic activity each year. Additionally, the Colorado River is also responsible for supporting the many American Indian reservations that lie within the watershed.

Source:
Economic importance of the Colorado River. The Nature Conservancy. (n.d.).

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A new study commissioned by Protect the Flows and published by Arizona State University quantifies the economic importance of the Colorado River for the first time. And while it may not be a surprise that the Colorado is a vital resource, the magnitude of its importance and the devastating impacts if the river water were to dry up are staggering.
WHAT ECONOMISTS LEARNED
Timothy James, the Arizona State economics professor who led the study, summed up its findings very simply: "The Colorado River is the lifeblood of the entire region."

According to research by economists:

The Colorado River supports $1.4 trillion in annual economic activity and 16 million jobs in California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming

That's equivalent to about 1/12 of the total U.S. domestic product, meaning the Colorado River's contribution is important to the national economy as well

For each of these western states, the river accounts for at least half of its gross economic product. The total is much higher for some state economies, including 65% in New Mexico and 87% in Nevada.

If just 10% of the river's water were unavailable for people, we would see a loss of $143 billion in economic activity and 1.6 million jobs in just one year.

The resulting economic hit would be delivered across the board, with the largest effects in real estate, healthcare and social services, retail, technical services and finance.

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Economic Importance of the Colorado River

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A new study commissioned by Protect the Flows and published by Arizona State University quantifies the economic importance of the Colorado River for the first time. And while it may not be a surprise that the Colorado is a vital resource, the magnitude of its importance and the devastating impacts if the river water were to dry up are staggering.

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Some of the largest producing agricultural areas in the United States are located in the Colorado River Basin. In California's Central Valley, over seventeen billion dollars in revenue is generated from agriculture each year, and ranching remains a crucial part of economies in southwestern states like Arizona and Nevada. In order to sustain this massive agricultural output, extensive water allocation is required to maintain healthy crop yields from year to year. Unfortunately, recent drought conditions have forced farmers in the watershed to fallow their fields and cut back on production. This not only has hurt these farmers on an individual level, but also has damaged the larger economy of these states.

Source:
Delonge, M. (2022, July 12). In California's Central Valley, drought is a growing threat to farms, food, and people. The Equation.

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Downtown Los Angeles (my former home!), where water cutbacks have turned much of the vegetation from green to brown.

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The Colorado River Basin is highly urbanized. Consequently, urban land usage represents a large proportion of total water used. The Colorado River Basin is responsible for supporting urban areas in the mountain-west like Denver and Las Vegas, as well as California mega-cities like Los Angeles and San Diego. Given their large populations, these cities require extensive water allocation, and these areas have been responsible for much of the overconsumption the river basin has experienced.

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The Colorado River Watershed traverses many states, and thus its governance is inherently decentralized. Though the federal government does step in to act as a central authority, managing the watershed in a sustainable manner requires the buy-in of multiple stakeholders, a task that proves to be much easier in theory than in reality. This process is especially difficult given the precedents that underlie its management.

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Allocation of water rights among states in the Colorado River Basin

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Allocation of water rights among states in the Colorado River Basin

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The current allocation agreement for water from the Colorado River exists on over a century of historical agreements and precedent. Many of these agreements were made before resource managers had a complete and accurate scientific understanding of the way water in the river flowed, namely the water compact of 1922. Accordingly, this has led some states to receive a greater share of the water than they probably should have, and accordingly, some states have not received what should be their fair share.

Source:
Smithsonian Institution. (2022, November 28). A century ago, this water agreement changed the west. now, the region is in crisis.

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The iconic Hoover Dam is a key source of power for the west.

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The Colorado River is responsible for generating massive quantities of energy for the western United States in the form of hydroelectric power. This power is generated from massive dams along the river, namely the Hoover Dam and the Glen Canyon Dam. These two dams are responsible for generating 81% of the total electricity sourced from the river. In total, the river has historically produced an annual average of 8,478 gigawatt hours of electricity, which is enough to power just under 800,000 American households.

Source:
Center for Water Policy. (n.d.). Climate change impacts on hydropower in the Colorado River Basin.

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The Colorado River has remained fairly clean throughout its history; however this does not mean that it does not face pollution issues. One of the biggest contributors to water quality issues in the Colorado River is through non-point source pollution via runoff. Much of this can likely be attributed to industrial activity in high elevation areas of the watershed, such as mining activity in Colorado and Wyoming.

Sources:
The Denver Post. (2019, February 20). Fouled waters reveal lasting legacy of U.S. Mining Industry.

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Groundskeepers here are mowing a yard that had only recently been subject to water cutbacks.

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Threats to Water Security: Overconsumption

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Threats to Water Security: Overconsumption

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One of the biggest challenges facing managers of the Colorado River is individual overconsumption. Despite warnings from officials that the public needs to cut back on water consumption in order to conserve water, water consumption has instead gone up in many localities. Government officials have so far avoided imposing too harsh of penalties on public overconsumption, but this will likely have to change in order to sustainably manage the river.

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The drought has lowered water levels throughout the entirety of the Colorado River.

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The Colorado River Basin has suffered from drought conditions for the past 23 years, and with each subsequent year the drought appears to be worsening. Resource managers project that the risk of Colorado River reservoirs like Lake Mead and Powell reaching critically low levels has quadrupled this millenium. This drought has affected nearly every part of the system, and this dynamic will be noted throughout the rest of the presentation.

Source:
Drought.gov. (n.d.). Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan.

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It is remarkable to consider the sheer size of the drainage area of the Colorado River. The total drainage area of the Colorado River encompasses 242,00 square miles, and enables much of the economic and cultural activity present in the area. The area of the United States that the Colorado drains is comparable to percentage of Africa that the Nile River drains, demonstrating the importance the river holds.

Source:
National Geographic. (n.d.). The American nile.

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A chart of average precipitation levels in the Colorado River Watershed

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Current Precipitation and Projected Changes in Precipitation

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Current Precipitation and Projected Changes in Precipitation

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Precipitation levels in the Colorado River Basin obviously vary depending on the area (lower basin vs upper basin). In total, the entirety of the watershed receives nearly 170 million acre-feet of precipitation. However, most of the watershed could be considered arid, meaning that it receives less than 20” of average precipitation each year. Researchers anticipate that precipitation levels will decrease in coming years as climate change worsens.

Source:
Western Water Assessment. (n.d.). Colorado River Basin Climate and Hydrology.

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The Colorado River Cutthroat Trout is a uniquely colored fish prized by conservationists and fishermen alike.

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Loss of Species: The Colorado River Cutthroat Trout

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Loss of Species: The Colorado River Cutthroat Trout

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The Cutthroat Trout has historically been ubiquitous across the Colorado River. However, the Trout has been challenged due to changes in habitat and human behavior. Damming of rivers and industrial activity has caused the streams in which these fish live to change, and has left them vulnerable to illness. Additionally, the Cutthroat Trout has received increased competition from invasive species that have pushed the Trout out of 95% of its original range in the river. These factors coalesce to threaten the very survival of the Cutthroat Trout, one of only a few species of fish unique and native to the Colorado River Basin.

Source:
Center for Biological Diversity. (n.d.). The Colorado River Cutthroat Trout.

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Social Impacts of Drought: The Bodies of Lake Mead

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Social Impacts of Drought: The Bodies of Lake Mead

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One shocking story that encapsulates the challenges facing the Colorado River is at Lake Mead. Lake Mead is a reservoir located in between Arizona and Nevada created by the Hoover Dam. Lake Mead has dried up in recent years, and in a morbid twist, the water has receded so much as to reveal six dead bodies that were submerged in the water. Investigators speculate that many of these victims were likely murdered and disposed of in Lake Mead, and were only found because of the drought conditions at the reservoir. It is likely that more will be found as the reservoir water line continues to drop in the coming years.

Sources:
Guardian News and Media. (2022, October 27). Sixth set of human remains found in Vanishing lake mead.

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Drought has struck the Mountain Ute Indian Tribe in Colorado, and the community pictured here has not received adequate water to support itself.

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Environmental equity: The American Indians of the Colorado River

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Environmental equity: The American Indians of the Colorado River

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What is often lost in the discussion of states' water rights to the Colorado River are the people who were historically left out of the agreements to begin with. The American Indian tribes in the area have not been included in discussions over how water from the Colorado River would be allocated in the entire history of the western United States, and this environmental racism has systemically disadvantaged these tribes. American Indians are up to 19x more likely to not have access to piped water compared to white Americans, and tribal leaders in part blame the federal government's failure to offer them a seat at the table for this inequity. Though it will not rectify this historical abuse, the federal government has recently declared that tribal leaders will be included in negotiations over water agreements moving forward.

Source: Sakas, M. E. (2021, December 7). Historically excluded from Colorado River Policy, tribes want a say in how the dwindling resource is used. access to clean water is a start. Colorado Public Radio.

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The lost river: Mexicans fight for mighty waterway taken by the US

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Environmental Equity: The Mexican Right to the Colorado River

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Environmental Equity: The Mexican Right to the Colorado River

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Additionally, it should be emphasized that though this presentation has focused on American claims to the Colorado River, the United States is not the only nation with a valid claim to the water. Before the 20th century, water from the Colorado River was used by northern Mexicans to sustain their daily livelihoods. However, American business interests saw an opportunity to generate massive profits by capturing this water for themselves. Allying themselves with corrupt Mexican state officials, in 1901 the Alamo Canal was constructed to divert water from Mexico to agricultural land in the Imperial Valley. Infrastructure projects like the Hoover Dam diverted the flow of the river even further, and by 1944 Mexico was left out of negotiations for water rights to the Colorado River entirely with the Morales Dam's construction on the US-Mexico border. Whereas this water once supported the growth of both nations, economic profit took precedent, and the indigenous community of northern Mexico has suffered as a result.

Source:
Guardian News and Media. (2019, October 21). The lost river: Mexicans fight for mighty waterway taken by the US.

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he temperature is rising toward 45C (113F) as young brothers Daniel and Dilan Rodríguez skip towards a bridge over the Colorado River in the Mexican border town of San Luis Río Colorado. But there is no water flowing through the channel of one of the world's mightiest waterways. The pair run down the river bank and cheerfully splash through stagnant puddles dotted about the riverbed.

"We wish we had a river, so we could swim, and jump and sail my cousin's boat," said Daniel, 12. "At least we have puddles to make mud balls, that can be fun."

Dilan Rodríguez, eight, fishing in the canal that runs adjacent to the dry Colorado River at the border of Mexico and the US on 6 September 2019. Photograph: Meghan Dhaliwal/The Guardian

The Colorado originates in the Rocky mountains and traverses seven US states, watering cities and farmland, before reaching Mexico, where it is supposed to flow onwards to the Sea of Cortez.

Instead, the river is dammed at the US-Mexico border, and on the other side the river channel is empty. Locals are now battling to bring it back to life.

There are few more striking examples of what has come to be known as "environmental injustice" - the inequitable access to clean land, air and water, and disproportionate exposure to hazards and climate disasters. Water in particular has emerged as a flash point as global heating renders vast swaths of the planet ever drier.

Today the Guardian is launching a year-long series, Our Unequal Earth, to investigate environmental inequalities and discrimination in the US and beyond. It will also reveal how the climate crisis is making things worse for activists and scientists on the ground.

"We've heard stories from my mum about how she used to play and swim in the Colorado River when she was little, but we've never experienced it," said Evelin Bautista, 14, who is a member of an indigenous tribe, the Cucapá, which means the River People. "I've heard that over the border, the water is so clear that they can even see the fish."

Indeed, a mere 30 miles north, over the border at Gateway park in Yuma, Arizona, siblings Damien Navarro, 12, and Dariana, eight, spent the day fishing, diving and swimming in the free flowing river.

David Barraga plays ball with his daughter Dariana and his stepson Damien in the Colorado River in Gateway park, Yuma, Arizona, on 7 September 2019. Photograph: Meghan Dhaliwal/The Guardian

"It's so hot, we come here all the time, the kids love the water, and we often catch catfish, bass and bluegill," said their father, David Barraga. "I didn't know there's no river in Mexico. Wow, that's a shame."

"At school in science we've been learning about drought, that the planet is getting hotter," said his son, Damien. "But we've never been told about the dam or the river in Mexico, maybe when we're older. It's really too bad for those kids."

Because the 1944 treaty did not allocate Mexico any water for the river itself, the channel is mostly dry. The loss of the river in Mexico has been devastating.

Nancy Saldaña, 54, an architect and activist in the Sonoran town of San Luis Río Colorado, recalls boat rides and fishing with her family during the 1980s, when the US occasionally released "extra" water to deal with heavy snow and rain that risked overwhelming its dams. Her mother, an evangelical pastor, conducted baptisms in the river until it disappeared.

"Taking away the river had a huge impact on us, it took away part of our identity. I felt anger, sadness and grief. My children had never seen the river flow."

The disparities on both sides of the border are stark.

In the US, the Colorado serves more than 35 million people, including several native tribes, seven national wildlife refuges and 11 national parks, and supports $26m tourism and recreational industries, as well as farming. California has rights to the largest quantity, with 4.4m acre-feet per year - or 29% of the total - while Utah is allocated 1.7m and Nevada 0.3m.

At the Morelos dam, located between Los Algodones, Baja California, and Yuma, Arizona, the river is diverted to a complex system of irrigation canals which nourish fields of cotton, wheat, alfalfa, asparagus, watermelons and date palms in the vast surrounding desert valley. This is good for farmers - and less so for ordinary Mexicans.

Following the dry riverbed south towards the Gulf of California evokes an eerie sadness. The sound of gunfire in one wide, dusty section led to a couple from San Diego hunting wild pigeons, and a bucketful of feathered corpses. A few miles west along dirt farm roads, dozens of herons, egrets and ducks were staking out a wonderfully lush wetland - though it is only an accidental byproductcreated by agricultural runoff from surrounding wheat and alfalfa fields.

The Colorado basin is one of 276 watersheds that cross international borders and Mexican supporters of the binational treaty argue that it resolved longstanding diplomatic disputes and enabled the region's economic development, even if there is mostly no longer a river in the channel.

"We're the only place in Mexico with a secure water supply, that is a privilege," said Francisco Bernal, the International Boundary and Water Commission (Cila) representative in Mexicali.

But the treaty didn't foresee prolonged drought, global heating and mounting demands. Now, water is running out, and things must change.

The population of Baja California grew from 1.67 million in 1990 to 3.5 million in 2018. Most of the river water still goes to farmers. Groundwater reserves are dwindling, pollution goes unchecked, and urban neighborhoods face shortages.

"If agriculture was forced to be more efficient there would be enough for everyone else," said Dr Jorge Ramírez, a leading water scientist at the Autonomous University of Baja California. "We have enough water, what we lack is planning. Water is the currency here and politics always wins."

In recent years, protests have erupted in response to allegations of corruption and poorly policed pollution standards that favor big landowners and water guzzling industries, such as a controversial US brewery under construction in the Mexicali valley.

In 2020, both countries will for the first time implement rationing. Mexico must cut usage by 3%. The US mustsave247m cubic metres. The plan would have been much stricter if not for record snowfall in parts of the Colorado basin last year.The reductions can only be accomplished if farmers waste less and participate in reforestation efforts.

Even so, scientists are optimistic that the delta can partially recover.

In the scorched and barren delta,visitors may encounter an incongruous sight: 700 acres of flourishing native trees and shrubs in three reforestation sites.

They are the product of what is called a "pulse flow".

In 2014, an environmental experiment driven by not-for-profits on both sides of the border resulted in 105,392 acres-feet (130m cubic metres) of extra water being released into Mexico over two months, simulating the natural spring floods of yesteryear.

The pulse flow bolstered parched wetlands and reforestation zones where native cottonwood and willow trees naturally germinated. And for a few days, for the first time in years, the river reconnected to the Sea of Cortez: fish stocks increased, dolphins returned and the number of migratory birds rocketed by 43%.

But for some scientists, the community response was perhaps the most surprising and satisfying. Thousands flocked to the river as it returned, briefly, to its former glory.

"I grew up with my mum's stories about the river in the old days, but couldn't believe it until I saw it myself," said Ulises Monroy Saldaña, 13. "I'll never forget putting my hand in the water for the first time: it was cold, but it felt so nice because it was so hot here."

Daniel Rodríguez was just seven years old, but still remembers the excitement of watching the river fill with water. "We'd come every day after school and keep jumping off the bridge until the police chased us away."

His grandmother, Lupe Aderete, 53, set up portable toilets for the massive influx of visitors. "It was beautiful to see the river alive again, everyone was so happy, and I made some extra money." She added: "It's not fair, the Gabachos [Americans] should leave some water for us.

The restoration site at Laguna Grande is a shady oasis of gangly cottonwood and willow trees surrounded by desert and farmland, visited by over 2,000 people last year.

Lupe Aderete at home in the neighborhood of Miguel Alemán, Baja California, on 6 September 2019. Photograph: Meghan Dhaliwal/The Guardian

"For most children, it's the first time they've seen a forest, and for the adults it brings back memories. Connecting to nature is emotional, and visitors cry all the time," said Gabriela González, education coordinator at the Sonoran Institute which runs Laguna Grande.

There's little or no chance that the river will ever flow freely again, but plans are afoot to repeat the pulse flow, this time flooding only the spots which most benefited last time. And there is hope of expanding native forests to create a green corridor withwetlands and lagoons channelling into the sea.

An indigenous community, the Cucapá, has been involved in dredging efforts, paid to shovel out thick mud to create connectivity channels that are crucial to sustainable ecosystems. Patches of native salty grass and flocks of raucous brown and white pelicans at the lower part of the estuary indicate that plentiful fish were swept in by recent high tides.

The next pulse flow should take place in 2021 or 2022. Regardless, this region will remain more desert than delta.

At home in Miguel Alemán, a poor makeshift neighbourhood with little shade, the Rodríguez brothers ditch their school stuff, grab a plastic bucket and rush back across the parched terrain to the concrete drainage canal running parallel to the littered riverbed.

They fearlessly dive into the polluted waterway, which emerges under the metal border wall, to cool down and catch some fish for dinner.
To contact Nina Lakhani, the Guardian's new environmental justice reporter, e-mail nina.lakhani@theguardian.com Design by Juweek Adolphe

This article was amended on 22 October 2019 to correct the spelling of Nancy Saldaña.

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The lost river: Mexicans fight for mighty waterway taken by the US

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he temperature is rising toward 45C (113F) as young brothers Daniel and Dilan Rodríguez skip towards a bridge over the Colorado River in the Mexican border town of San Luis Río Colorado. But there is no water flowing through the channel of one of the world's mightiest waterways.

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Effects of Climate Change: Regional Political Conflict

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Effects of Climate Change: Regional Political Conflict

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The political conflict associated with the management of the Colorado River has only been worsened by climate change. As noted earlier, climate change and rising global temperatures have exacerbated drought conditions in the Colorado River Basin. There already was hardly enough water to go around, but now water usage must be cut back even further to ensure that river remains sustainable, and with that comes political arguments. No state wants to be the one to cut back their consumption while others maintain their previous water usage, and this has caused difficult negotiations between the states about where cuts must be made. Just this past summer, Arizona and Nevada were ordered by the federal government to make cuts to their water usage. However, state representatives protested that they had been asked to make cuts to their water usage when other states like California were not. What were already contentious negotiations will certainly be exacerbated if the climate-induced drought continues.

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Pictured above are some of the glaciers in the Rocky Mountains at the peak of the watershed

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Effects of Climate Change: Contributing to the melting of mountain glaciers and snowpack

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Effects of Climate Change: Contributing to the melting of mountain glaciers and snowpack

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A key consequence of climate change is rising global temperatures, which in turn has caused melting of mountain glaciers and snowpack within the Colorado River Basin. Since the watershed flows downstream in elevation, the presence of snowpack at the head of the watershed is crucial to maintaining consistent runoff levels. However, as global temperatures rise with the changing climate, this in turn contributes to the melting of mountain glaciers and decreases the annual level of snowpack that enters the river. This rears its head the further downstream one travels, as snowmelt contributes between 60% - 85% of all streamflow in the mountain west. Ultimately, worsening climate change will likely continue this decline in annual snowpack.

Source:
Western Water Assessment. (n.d.). Colorado River Basin Climate and Hydrology.

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Pictured above is the causal loop diagram that I have created for the Colorado River Watershed. As we can see, CO2 emissions and population growth are key leverage points for the entirety of the system. CO2 emissions and population growth drive the economy of the region, but are also responsible for depleting the water reserves that make the entire system possible. CO2 emissions are a global problem that cannot be entirely solved on a local level, but agricultural and urban activity are points where solutions can be reached.

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Solution 1: Bringing all stakeholders to the table, including historically marginalized communities

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Solution 1: Bringing all stakeholders to the table, including historically marginalized communities

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For the past century, rights to the Colorado River have been decided by powerful American states, and has left out the American Indians and Mexicans from the discussion entirely. Sustainably managing the Colorado Rivers requires negotiation and responsible planning from all key stakeholders. Inviting American Indian and Mexican leaders into discussions would ensure that an equitable solution for all is reached. To their credit, the American federal government appears to be doing so in inviting the American Indians to these talks, but their failure to include the Mexican authorities will only serve to harm their neighbors to the South.

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This is a rock garden filled with native plants to the region that replaced a non-native lawn in the Colorado Watershed

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Solution 2: Replacing water-intensive lawns in urban areas with native flora

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Solution 2: Replacing water-intensive lawns in urban areas with native flora

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Lawns and other forms of non-native flora are very popular in the west, but their existence is likely to be incompatible with sustainable management of the watershed. Instead, one solution could be for homeowners to replace their front lawns (and the watering that comes with them) with gardens filled with native plants. These plants are better suited for the climate that they inhabit, and will allow water that was wasted on maintaining lawns to instead be conserved.

Source:
Salahieh, N. (2022, April 28). SoCal water restrictions: How to make your yard more water efficient. KTLA.

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This is a winter-squash that was dry-farmed in the Colorado Watershed. Dry-farming crops saves a large quantity of water compared to if groundwater were used.

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Solution 3: Subsidizing sustainable agricultural practices

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Solution 3: Subsidizing sustainable agricultural practices

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Not all farming is created equal. The cultivation of crops such as almonds is incredibly water-intensive, requiring an entire gallon of water to grow just one almond nut. Without changing the incentive structure, farmers will continue to grow these crops even under historic drought conditions. One solution to this would be for state governments in the Colorado Watershed to subsidize a switch for famers from water-intensive crops like the aforementioned almond to low-water crops such as dry-farmed tomatoes. This would protect the economic welfare of those who depend on agriculture to earn their living, but would also address the problem of water overconsumption from agriculture uses.

Sources:
Runwal, P. (2019, February 16). California's 'dry farmers' grow crops without irrigation. The Mercury News.

Poinski, M. (2021, November 4). Despite drought, almonds will keep on growing. Food Dive.

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Center for Biological Diversity. (n.d.). The Colorado River Cutthroat Trout.

Center for Water Policy. (n.d.). Climate change impacts on hydropower in the Colorado River Basin.

Colorado River. Feeding Ourselves Thirsty. (n.d.).

Delonge, M. (2022, July 12). In California's Central Valley, drought is a growing threat to farms, food, and people. The Equation.

The Denver Post. (2019, February 20). Fouled waters reveal lasting legacy of U.S. Mining Industry.

Drought.gov. (n.d.). Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan.

Economic importance of the Colorado River. The Nature Conservancy. (n.d.).

Guardian News and Media. (2019, October 21). The lost river: Mexicans fight for mighty waterway taken by the US.

Guardian News and Media. (2022, October 27). Sixth set of human remains found in Vanishing lake mead.

National Geographic. (n.d.). The American nile.

Poinski, M. (2021, November 4). Despite drought, almonds will keep on growing. Food Dive.

Runwal, P. (2019, February 16). California's 'dry farmers' grow crops without irrigation. The Mercury News.

Sakas, M. E. (2021, December 7). Historically excluded from Colorado River Policy, tribes want a say in how the dwindling resource is used. access to clean water is a start. Colorado Public Radio.

Salahieh, N. (2022, April 28). SoCal water restrictions: How to make your yard more water efficient. KTLA.

Smithsonian Institution. (2022, November 28). A century ago, this water agreement changed the west. now, the region is in crisis.

Western Water Assessment. (n.d.). Colorado River Basin Climate and Hydrology.