Developing the Next Framework to Manage the Colorado River: Flexible Tools to Benefit Tribes and the Basin

Water and Tribes Initiative | August 2nd, 2022

Effects of water management on the wetlands of the Colorado River Delta, Mexico

Conservation Biology (Society for Conservation Biology) | August 1st, 1996

The lower delta of the Colorado River has been severely affected by the upstream diversion of water for human use. No river water is officially appropriated to support de

The lower delta of the Colorado River has been severely affected by the upstream diversion of water for human use. No river water is officially appropriated to support delta wetlands, yet large marsh areas of conservation interest still exist below the agricultural fields in Mexico. These are supported by flood water, agricultural drainage water, municipal sewage effluent, and seawater in the intertidal zone. From 1973 to 1993 the area of freshwater and brackish marsh varied widely, from 5800 to 63,000 ha. A new opportunity exists to restore wetlands in the delta now that the upstream water impoundments on the Colorado River are filled and flood flows are once again being directed to the delta. But flood control structures now channel most of the flood water directly to the sea, and most of the effluent waters are deposited in evaporation basins rather than used to support wetlands. If the Yuma Desalting Plant in the United States becomes operational and if the Rio Hardy wetlands continue to be drained, the area of brackish wetlands could decrease to less than 2000 ha in the near future. Preserving the remaining wetlands will require a binational water management plan. The plan should maximize the benefits to wetlands of flood and irrigation return flows that enter the delta, and it should minimize flood risks.

Environmental Water Transactions in the Colorado River Basin: A Closer Look

Stanford University | November 14th, 2018

Over the last 30 years, the voluntary transfer of water and water rights for environmental uses has become a recognized strategy for restoring streamflow in the Western

Over the last 30 years, the voluntary transfer of water and water rights for environmental uses has become a recognized strategy for restoring streamflow in the Western United States. Historically, taking water out of a stream was a legally required element of an appropriative water right. Water rights holders who left all or a portion of their right instream to enhance fish populations, riparian habitat or recreation, risked forfeiture or diminishment of their water right. Beginning in the 1980’s, state laws began to recognize both the appropriation of new water rights for instream use and to allow the transfer and amendment of existing appropriative rights for those uses. Click here for previous report.

Estuary News, February 2003

San Francisco Estuary Partnership (SFEP) | February 15th, 2003

Fill Mead First: a technical assessment

Utah State University | November 10th, 2019

The Fill Mead First (FMF) plan would establish Lake Mead reservoir as the primary water storage facility of the main-stem Colorado River and would relegate Lake

The Fill Mead First (FMF) plan would establish Lake Mead reservoir as the primary water storage facility of the main-stem Colorado River and would relegate Lake Powell reservoir to a secondary water storage facility to be used only when Lake Mead is full. The objectives of the FMF plan are to re-expose some of Glen Canyon’s sandstone walls that are now inundated, begin the process of re-creating a riverine ecosystem in Glen Canyon, restore a more natural stream-flow, temperature, and sediment-supply regime of the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon ecosystem, and reduce system-wide water losses caused by evaporation and movement of reservoir water into ground-water storage. The FMF plan would be implemented in three phases. Phase I would involve lowering Lake Powell to the minimum elevation at which hydroelectricity can still be produced (called minimum power pool elevation): 3490 ft asl (feet above sea level). At this elevation, the water surface area of Lake Powell is approximately 77 mi2, which is 31% of the surface area when the reservoir is full. Phase II of the FMF plan would involve lowering Lake Powell to dead pool elevation (3370 ft asl), abandoning hydroelectricity generation, and releasing water only through the river outlets. The water surface area of Lake Powell at dead pool is approximately 32 mi2 and is 13% of the reservoir surface area when it is full. Implementation of Phase III would necessitate drilling new diversion tunnels around Glen Canyon Dam in order to eliminate all water storage at Lake Powell. In this paper, we summarize the FMF plan and identify critical details about the plan’s implementation that are presently unknown. We estimate changes in evaporation losses and ground-water storage that would occur if the FMF plan was implemented, based on review of existing data and published reports. We also discuss significant river-ecosystem issues that would arise if the plan was implemented.

Finishing the All-American Canal

Scientific American | September 1st, 2020

Work on the All-American Canal is going forward so rapidly that the great 80-mile ditch and its appurtenant features will be ready to de­liver irrigation water to the Im

Work on the All-American Canal is going forward so rapidly that the great 80-mile ditch and its appurtenant features will be ready to de­liver irrigation water to the Imperial Valley in southeastern California some time during the first half of 1938. The waterway is being dug across a normally desert region that once formed the wa­ter bed of the prehistoric northern ex­tension of the Gulf of California, as we know it today. Paradoxically, that far­ flung section of the Gulf was transform­ ed into a generally barren and arid region by the very river that is to be tapped to assure the continued agricul­tural productivity · of soil that can be made amazingly fruitful by irrigation.

Fixing the Flawed Colorado River Compact

American Geophysical Union (AGU) | June 16th, 2023

Formation of California's Salton Sea in 1905-07 was not "accidental"

2020 Desert Symposium Field Guide and Proceedings | April 26th, 2020

It is widely thought that the Salton Sea was created accidentally in 1905-07 because of engineering negligence in the diversion of Colorado River water for agricultural u

It is widely thought that the Salton Sea was created accidentally in 1905-07 because of engineering negligence in the diversion of Colorado River water for agricultural use in California’s Imperial Valley. This is a misconception. Scientific data and historical records establish that formation of the Salton Sea was not accidental. The lake formed during 1905-07 in the same manner that numerous other large Salton Basin lakes did for at least tens of thousands of years from the Late Pleistocene through the late 19th century: as a result of the lower Colorado River’s natural hydrodynamic regime, floodplain morphodynamics, and established avulsion style in combination with changes in streamflow attributable to regional hydroclimate. A large body of scientific and historical evidence indicates the 1905-07 Colorado River flooding into the Salton Basin and the creation of a large lake there would have occurred regardless of man-made modifications to the river’s natural levee and distributary channels. In fact, the flooding would likely have been even worse in the absence of human intervention.

From Desert Wasteland to Agricultural Wonderland: The Story of Water and Power

Imperial Irrigation District (IID) | October 3rd, 1977

Funding Opportunity for Voluntary Participation in the Lower Colorado Conservation and Efficiency Program

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | October 12th, 2022