Colorado River Basin Shortages and Coordinated Operations for Lake Powell and Lake Mead
| Geolocation: | 36° 7' 52.0741", -114° 26' 27.9499" |
|---|---|
| Total Population | 1717,000,000 millionmillion |
| Total Area | 637137637,137 km² 245,998.596 mi² km2 |
| Climate Descriptors | Arid/desert (Köppen B-type) |
| Predominent Land Use Descriptors | agricultural- cropland and pasture, conservation lands |
| Important Uses of Water | Agriculture or Irrigation, Domestic/Urban Supply, Hydropower Generation, Recreation or Tourism |
| Water Features: | Colorado Basin, Colorado River, Lake Mead, Lake Powell |
| Riparians: | Arizona (U.S.), California (U.S.), Colorado (U.S.), Nevada (U.S.), New Mexico (U.S.), Utah (U.S.), Wyoming (U.S.) |
| Water Projects: | Glen Canyon Dam, Hoover Dam, Colorado River Storage Project |
| Agreements: | 2007 Interim Guidelines for Colorado River Operations, Colorado River Compact, 1948 Upper Colorado River Basin Compact, 1956 Colorado River Storage Project Act |
Contents
Summary
From 1999 to 2007, the Colorado River Basin faced a historic drought which drastically reduced the Colorado River system storage while water demand among the U.S. Basin States increased. Over these eight years, storage in Colorado River reservoirs decreased from 94 percent capacity to 54 percent capacity. Existing legislature, the “Law of the River,” did not contain guidelines to allocate water in the Colorado River in the event of a shortage. This case explores the development of the 2007 Interim Guidelines for Lower Basin Shortages and Coordinated Operations for Lake Powell and Lake Mead in response to these low reservoir conditions. The Interim Guidelines were developed after nearly two years of negotiations and resulted in consensus among the seven U.S. Basin States on a 20-year agreement.
Natural, Historic, Economic, Regional, and Political Framework
7-1 Geography of the Colorado River Basin
The Colorado River is a 1,450-mile river with its headwaters in the Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. The Colorado River Basin drains an area of 246,000 square miles, including parts of seven U.S. states (“Basin States”) and two Mexican states (USGS 2016).
The Upper Basin refers to Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, and includes part of Arizona within and from which waters naturally drain into the Colorado River system above Lees Ferry. The Lower Basin includes Arizona, California, Nevada, and parts of the states of New Mexico and Utah within and from which waters naturally drain into the Colorado River system below Lees Ferry. Two thirds of the flow from the Colorado and its tributaries is used for irrigation, and the remaining third is used for urban supply, evaporates into the atmosphere, or provides water to vegetation along the river. In the Lower Basin, Arizona and California use the water for irrigation and domestic uses while Nevada uses the water only for domestic purposes (Reclamation 2015). Today, the Basin supplies water to 17 million people in the Southwest and Mexico. The table below shows the allocation of water from the Colorado River Basin to the seven Basin States and Mexico.
7-2 Lake Powell and Lake Mead
In 1966, the 710-foot concrete arch of the Glen Canyon Dam formed Lake Powell, with a capacity of 27 MAF. This dam can provide up to 1,320 megawatts of hydroelectric power at the Glen Canyon Powerplant (Reclamation 2017). In the U.S., Glen Canyon Dam is surpassed only by the Hoover Dam 300 miles away, which rises 726 feet. Hoover Dam, completed in 1936, formed Lake Mead, which is the largest reservoir in the U.S. with an estimated capacity of over 31 MAF (Reclamation 2017).
7-3 Timeline of Key Events and Legislation {
Issues and Stakeholders
Low reservoir elevations caused by drought threaten water allocations. How can States prepare for low-elevation reservoir conditions?
NSPD: Water Quantity, Governance, Assets
Stakeholder Types: Federated state/territorial/provincial government, Non-legislative governmental agency
Analysis, Synthesis, and Insight
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Key Questions
Transboundary Water Issues: What mechanisms beyond simple allocation can be incorporated into transboundary water agreements to add value and facilitate resolution?
The Interim Guidelines looked beyond allocation and provided additional mechanisms for the storage and delivery of water in Lake Mead to increase flexibility of meeting its water needs. Specifically, it incentivized conservation efforts and storage of unused allocations in Lake Mead to maintain its elevation via creation of a legal construct called “Intentionally Created Surplus” (ICS) water.
Transboundary Water Issues: What kinds of water treaties or agreements between countries can provide sufficient structure and stability to ensure enforceability but also be flexible and adaptable given future uncertainties?
Framing a new agreement to include specific water allocations to parties under a variety of scenarios can ensure resilience of an agreement through uncertain futures. One expert described a “new era” of the Colorado River in which the future hydrology “cannot be reasonably estimated by simply using the available gauge record.” Basin States “acknowledged the potential for impacts due to climate change and increased hydrologic variability” and collaborated on scenario planning in response. The 2007 Interim Guidelines defined specific deliveries to each Basin at stepped storage elevations of the reservoirs. Cognizant of the highly uncertain water supply in the Basin, the Guidelines defined allocations which addressed surplus, normal, and shortage conditions. The Guidelines included further protection from shortage by giving the Secretary of the Interior the authority to take additional necessary actions at critical elevations to avoid Lower Basin shortage as the conditions approach thresholds.
References
Kuhn, R.E. (2005, February 25). Future Scenarios for the Colorado River. Retrieved from: http://www.coloradoriverdistrict.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Future-Scenarios-Kuhn.pdf
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. (2007, November). Colorado River Interim Guidelines for Lower Basin Shortages and Coordinated Operations for Lakes Powell and Mead. Retrieved from: https://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/programs/strategies/FEIS/index.html USGS. (2016, December 9). Colorado River Basin Focus Area Study. Retrieved from: https://water.usgs.gov/watercensus/colorado.html U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. (2015, June 4). Boulder Canyon Operations Office - Lower Colorado River Water Delivery Contracts. Retrieved from: https://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/g4000/contracts/wateruse.html U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. (1948). Upper Colorado River Basin Compact, 1948. Retrieved from: https://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/pao/pdfiles/ucbsnact.pdf U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. (2012, November 20). Department of the Interior Press Release 11/20/12. Retrieved from: https://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/feature/minute319.html U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. (1948). Upper Colorado River Basin Compact, 1948. Retrieved from: https://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/pao/pdfiles/ucbsnact.pdf U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. (2012, November 20). Department of the Interior Press Release 11/20/12. Retrieved from: https://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/feature/minute319.html U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. (2017, May 1). Glen Canyon Unit. Retrieved from: https://www.usbr.gov/uc/rm/crsp/gc/ U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. (2017, February 8). Hoover Dam Historical Information. Retrieved from: https://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/history/storymain.html National Academy of Sciences. (2007, February) Colorado River Basin Water Management: Evaluating and Adjusting to Hydroclimatic Variability. Retrieved from: http://dels.nas.edu/resources/static-assets/materials-based-on-reports/reports-in-brief/colorado_river_management_final.pdf U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. (2005, June 15). Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 114. Retrieved from: https://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/programs/strategies/news/FRnoticeJune05.pdf U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. (2007, April 29). Re: Comments of the Navajo Nation on Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the Colorado River Interim Guidelines for Lower Basin Shortages and Coordinated Operations for Lake Powell and Lake Mead (“DEIS”). Retrieved from: https://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/programs/strategies/DEIScomments/Tribal/NavajoNation.pdf U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. (2007, April 26). Comments by Ak-Chin Indian Community Regarding Bureau of Reclamation Proposed Colorado River Shortage EIS. Retrieved from: https://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/programs/strategies/DEIScomments/Tribal/AkChinTribe.pdf U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. (2007, April 30). Colorado River Indian Tribes. Retrieved from: https://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/programs/strategies/DEIScomments/Tribal/CRIT.pdf U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. (2006, July 7). Conservation Before Shortage II: Proposal for Colorado River Operations. Retrieved from: https://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/programs/strategies/alternatives/CBS2.pdf U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. (2007, December 13). Record of Decision. Retrieved from: https://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/programs/strategies/RecordofDecision.pdf Grant, D. L. (2008). Collaborative Solutions to Colorado River Water Shortages: The Basin States’ Proposal and Beyond. Nevada Law Journal, 8, 964–993 Colorado River Research Group. (2015, December). A look at the interim guidelines at their mid‐point: How are we doing? Retrieved from: http://www.coloradoriverresearchgroup.org/uploads/4/2/3/6/42362959/crrg_interim_guidelines_white_version_updated2.pdf Bureau of Reclamation. (2014, December 10). Memorandum of Understanding. https://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/g4000/LB_DroughtResponseMOU.pdf Central Arizona Project. (2017, January 5). Review of and Update on Lower Basin Drought Contingency Plan (LBDCP) and Drought Contingency Plan (DCP) Plus Plan. Retrieved from: http://www.cap-az.com/documents/meetings/2017-01-05/1604-10.%20Board%20Brief%20LBDCP%20and%20DCP%20Plus%20-%20010517.pdf U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. (2009, October). The Water Conservation Initiative and Implementation of the Secure Water Act. Retrieved from: https://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/programs/crbstudy/SWA.pdf U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. (2017, January 19). SECURE Water Act Report to Congress. Retrieved from: https://www.usbr.gov/climate/secure/
