Colorado River Materials

Overview

Colorado River Materials

Publications and products related to this vital resource.

Western Water Magazine

Cutting Colorado River Use: The California Plan
November/December 1998

This issue updates progress on crafting and implementing California’s 4.4 plan to reduce its use of Colorado River water by 800,000 acre-feet. The state has used as much as 5.2 million acre-feet of Colorado River water annually, but under pressure from Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and the other six states that share this resource, California’s Colorado River parties have been trying to close the gap between demand and supply.

River Reports

The Colorado River Compact: 75 Years Later
September/October 1997

An expanded issue of Western Water offered comprehensive coverage of the 1922 Colorado River Compact, the document negotiated and signed by representatives of the seven states that share the Colorado River and then-Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover. The article discussed the controversial issues of today and their relationship to the past, including how the law of the river relates to today’s issues.

River Reports

Solving the Basin’s Math Problem: Adapting to Change
2011 Symposium Proceedings

The written proceedings of the Foundation’s 2011 Colorado River Symposium, “Solving the Basin’s Math Problem: Adapting to Change.” This two-and-a-half day, invitation-only event held in September 2011 brought together some of the top policymakers in the Colorado River Basin. Symposium discussions focused on realities associated with water supply and demands; hydrological and political drivers of change; the Colorado River Basin Study; adapting to increased costs and determining who pays; cross-border issues between Mexico and the United States; and adapting to climate change.

River Reports

The Colorado River: Building a Sustainable Future
2009 Symposium Proceedings

The written proceedings of the Foundation’s 2009 Colorado River Symposium, “The Colorado River: Building a Sustainable Future.” This two-and-a-half day, invitation-only event held in September 2009 brought together some of the top policymakers in the Colorado River Basin. Symposium discussions focused on Mexico/U.S. issues; population growth; Colorado River augmentation; climate change; the energy-water supply connection and closed with a crystal ball panel discussion on alternative futures for the river.

River Reports

The Colorado River Compact at 85 and Changes on the River Symposium Proceedings
2007 Sympoisum Proceedings

The written proceedings of the Foundation’s 2007 Colorado River Symposium, “The Colorado River Compact at 85 and Changes on the River.” This two-and-a-half day, invitation-only event held in September 2007 brought together some of the top policymakers in the Colorado River Basin. Symposium discussions focused on the 1922 Compact and its applicability in 2007; Mexican/U.S. border issues; climate change, water supplies and growth; federal funding; and the restoring the riparian system.

River Reports

Sharing the Risks: Shortage, Surplus and Beyond
2005 Sympoisum Proceedings

The written proceedings of the Foundation’s 2005 Colorado River Symposium, “Sharing the Risks: Shortage, Surplus and Beyond,” is now available. Held last September, the fifth biennial invitation-only symposium brought together the top policymakers in the Colorado River Basin.

River Reports

The Ties that Bind: Policy and the Evolving Law of the Colorado River
2003 Symposium Proceedings

In September 2003, the Foundation hosted its fourth Colorado River Symposium, “The Ties that Bind: Policy and the Evolving Law of the Colorado River. This two-and-a-half day, invitation-only event brought together some of the top policy-makers in the Colorado River Basin to discuss the legal and physical ties link the seven states, two countries and many stakeholders that share the Colorado River. Participants at the event included Bennett Raley, Assistant Interior Secretary for Water and Science, and John Keys, Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

River Reports

Coming to Consensus: Sharing the Colorado River
2002 Symposium Proceedings

In early 2002, the Foundation hosted its third Colorado River Symposium, “Coming to Consensus: Sharing the Colorado River.” This two-and-a-half day, invitation-only event brought together some of the top policy-makers in the Colorado River Basin to discuss how the different states and disparate interest groups can work together to better manage the river. Participants at the event included Bennett Raley, Assistant Interior Secretary for Water and Science, and John Keys, Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

River Reports

Managing the Colorado River
1999 Symposium Proceedings

In 1999, the Foundation held its second Colorado River Symposium, Managing the Colorado River: Past, Present and Future. This two-and-a-half-day event brought together 110 top policy-makers and leading stakeholders from the seven states that share the Colorado River, American Indian tribes, Mexico, environmental groups and the federal government to discuss ways these diverse interests can work together to address the many challenges facing the Colorado River.

Product

Colorado River Compact 75th Anniversary Symposium Proceedings

In 1997, the Foundation sponsored a three-day, invitation-only symposium at Bishop’s Lodge, New Mexico, site of the 1922 Colorado River Compact signing, to discuss the historical implications of that agreement, current Colorado River issues and future challenges. The 204-page proceedings features the panel discussions and presentations on such issues as the Law of the River, water marketing and environmental restoration.

River Reports

River Report Summer 2013

This printed issue of River Report, “Finding a Solution for the Salton Sea,” discusses the Salton Sea, the enigmatic, saline, terminal water body where officials and stakeholder are trying to craft a long-term, viable solution to preserve the Sea’s ecological health.

River Reports

River Report Winter 2012-2013

This printed issue of River Report, “Minute 319: Building on the Past to Provide for the Future,” details the components of Minute 319, takes a look at the precedent it sets and what might come after the five-year Minute expires.

River Reports

River Report Summer 2012

This printed issue of River Report, “Maintaining a Fragile Alliance: Colorado River Water Users and the QSA,” discusses the state of the California Quantification Settlement Agreement (QSA), including the efforts to find a long-standing resolution to mitigating the transfer impacts on the Salton Sea that threaten the integrity of the agreement.

River Reports

River Report Winter 2011-2012

This issue of River Report, “Bigger, Faster and Stronger: Climate Change and the Colorado River Basin,” describes how many experts believe that climate change is happening faster than first predicted and how it has taken on the elements of VUCA – increased volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. Much of the content is based on the comments of a climate change panel assembled at the Foundation’s invitation-only 2011 Colorado River Symposium.

River Reports

River Report Summer 2011

This issue of River Report, “Conserving Species and Habitat: Five Years of the Multi-Species Conservation Program,” looks at how the MSCP is striving to improve wildlife habitat along the Lower Colorado River.

River Reports

River Report Winter 2010

This issue of River Report, “Balancing a Complex Set of Interests: Glen Canyon Dam and Adaptive Management”, examines some recent developments surrounding Glen Canyon Dam – control of non-native fish, possible flow changes to accommodate sediment transport and a new long-term operations plan.

River Reports

River Report Fall 2010

This issue of River Report features an interview of Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Mike Connor conducted by Foundation Executive Director Rita Schmidt Sudman. Side articles include focus on the Yuma Desalting Plant’s yearlong pilot run, Recovery Act funding of Reclamation projects and the near-completion of the Drop 2 Storage Reservoir.

River Reports

River Report Winter 2009

The attention devoted to reaching a critical balance of water supply reliabil¬ity and ecosystem health has involved a small army of scientific, legal and policy experts – all intently focused on a river system that is caught in a set of ongoing environmental issues as well as predicted changes in precipitation that look to disrupt the fundamental assumptions of how much water will flow in the next 100 years.

River Reports

River Report Winter 2008-2009

In the Colorado River region, the challenge of constructing dependable water infrastructure on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border is compounded by eight years of drought, decaying existing infrastructure and ongoing pollution problems. This issue of River Report, “U.S.-Mexico Border Infrastructure: Meeting Current Needs with an Eye to Future Challenges,” explains the water infrastructure topics being discussed and ongoing measures to improve water resources along the border states.

River Reports

River Report Summer 2009

The connection between energy and water is an important issue that is garnering more attention as the demands for each increase. This issue of River Report, “The Water-Energy Nexus in the Colorado River Basin,” looks at how the water-energy link is growing in importance as the demand for each grows in the future while uncertainty sur­rounds the prospect of expanded supplies.