Municipal Deliveries of Colorado River Basin Water: New Report Examines 100 Cities and Agencies

The Pacific Institute’s Municipal Deliveries of Colorado River Basin Water documents population and water delivery information and trends for 100 cities and agencies that deliver water from the Colorado River basin. Since 1990, the number of people in the United States and Mexico who use Colorado River basin water has increased by more than 10 million -– but their overall per capita water use declined by an average of at least one percent per year from 1990 to 2008.

The new report provides -– for the first time -– real numbers on the extraordinary population growth among cities that depend on water from the basin and on changing water delivery rates by these cities. Author Michael Cohen, senior research associate, documents the substantial water-efficiency gains made over the past twenty years by agencies delivering water from the Colorado River basin -– even by agencies and cities such as Flagstaff that already had relatively low per capita delivery rates in 1990.