The Three Colorado Rivers: Hydrologic, Infrastructural, and Economic Flows of Water in a Shared River Basin

Abstract

The Colorado River Basin is a hydrologic river network that directs runoff from rain and snow falling on mountains, primarily in Colorado and Wyoming, to the Colorado River Delta in Mexico. Over the last century, in response to basin‐wide water shortages, legal agreements between stakeholders in seven U.S. states and Mexico, hydrologic flows from users on the main stem of the river have been reallocated to junior water rights holders. Municipalities, businesses, farmers, and households utilize the Colorado River water to produce and trade valuable, water‐derived goods and services, which effectively reallocates water through a continually adapting, boundary‐free economic river network providing indirect access to "virtual" Colorado River water. We conceptualize the Colorado River Basin as a multiplex network comprised of interdependent natural flow networks, direct (infrastructural) flow networks, and indirect (virtual) flow networks. Using this reframing, we quantify the total hydrosocial impact of the Drought Contingency Plan (DCP) on Lower Basin states. For each Mm3 of water reduced through the DCP, Arizona, Nevada, and California lose an additional 0.42–0.43 Mm3, 0.33–0.51 Mm3, and 1.06–1.10 Mm3 of virtual water flow, respectively. Hence, the DCP will require Arizona, Nevada, and Southern California to restructure how they use water, relying less on direct and indirect consumption of the Colorado River water and finding more indirect water sources outside that basin.

Gestão compartilhada de uma bacia hidrográfica no semiárido brasileiro: análise à luz dos sistemas socioecológicos e princípios institucionais

“…Nessas bacias há maior propensão para existência de conflitos a partir de normas jurídicas concorrentes e desarmônicas (Petersen-Perlman et al, 2017). Muitos são os exemplos de estudos que se dedicam a analisar aspectos relacionados a governança da água em bacias compartilhadas entre mais de um país (Baranyai, 2019;Hossen et al, 2021;Rajosoa et al, 2021;Rushforth et al, 2022;Saruchera & Lautze, 2016;Skoulikaris & Zafirakou, 2019;Thomas, 2017). Mas, segundo Garrick et al (2014), os estudos nesse sentido focados em bacias interestaduais são mais incipientes.…”

Policies to Achieve Sustainability in the Colorado River Basin under Climate Change Conditions and Growing Demand: A Hydro-economic Analysis

“…It is assumed that the irrigation district is the decision maker. Agricultural activities maximize benefits from crop production subject to land, water, and technological constrains The excessive pressure that faces the basin makes the water system vulnerable to failure, economic losses, conflicts between regions and water users, and the degradation of ecosystems (Rushforth et al, 2022;Munia et al, 2016).…”

Can International Freshwater Trade Contribute to the SDG 6

“…A typical example is the transboundary Colorado River Basin is, which has undergone bitter international battles over water rights between the US and Mexico, leading to the decades-long drying-up of the Colorado River delta. Although water returned to the delta in 2014, the fundamental problem of basin-wide water shortages is finding more available water sources outside the river basin [9,10].…”