Drought-Related Studies in the Colorado River Basin Funded by the USGS Colorado River Basin Actionable and Strategic Integrated Science and Technology (ASIST) Initiative
The USGS Actionable and Strategic Integrated Science and Technology (ASIST) Team has built relationships with representatives of resource management agencies and other stakeholders who can benefit from use of USGS data and products. In 2023, the ASIST Team funded new interdisciplinary projects to address pressing science needs related to drought in the Colorado River Basin.
New USGS Drought-Related Studies in the Colorado River Basin
Multiple project concepts related to drought in the Colorado River Basin, developed during the fall 2023 Actionable and Strategic Integrated Science and Technology (ASIST) co-design workshops, have been selected for funding.
In 2023, the ASIST Team facilitated a series of workshops aimed at fostering collaboration among resource management agencies, other stakeholders, and USGS scientists to develop concepts for interdisciplinary science and technology projects to address pressing science needs related to drought in the Colorado River Basin.
Nine project concepts were developed during the workshop. The nine project concepts were ranked based on criteria from a use case matrix for short-term prototype proposals developed in 2021, and perspectives from the USGS Rocky Mountain and Southwest Regions and the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area Drought Initiative. Ranking criteria included: relationship with drought; alignment with the ASIST vision; integration with other stakeholder, mission area, and program activities; ability to leverage existing capabilities and efforts; and assessments for high priority watersheds.
The following three projects were selected for funding, with funding for a fourth project pending:
Cascading Effects of Dust on Drought
This project focuses on synthesizing USGS dust science and presenting findings through a geonarrative that will be linked to the Colorado River Basin Science Collaboration Portal. Across the Rocky Mountain Region, USGS science centers and teams have evaluated the emission, transport, composition, and downwind impacts of dust. A synthesis of these studies is needed to identify knowledge gaps, guide future work, support data discovery, and engage the public in USGS dust science.
Aridification vs. Drought
This project will look at paleo and modern climate data to better understand whether the climate conditions in the Colorado River Basin can best be described as drought or long-term aridification. Water and land managers are experiencing challenges in making decisions without having a good understanding of what future water availability or land/ecosystem changes may occur. A central question is whether drying in the Colorado River Basin is better described as a drought (a discrete, temporary event) or aridification (a long-term step change to drier conditions in the system). Making the distinction between drought and aridification is imperative, as it has implications for longer term planning for water allocations and ecosystem function.
Understanding Shifting Ecohydrological Baselines
This project will focus on evaluating the effects of shifting ecohydrological baselines on sagebrush and selected aquatic systems. The project will help in the integration of complex multidisciplinary data for the largescale approach needed to understand where shifting ecohydrological patterns occur or are likely to occur and how those shifts may affect conservation and land use management. Current models designed to assess ecohydrological shifts are typically limited, leaving numerous knowledge and data gaps.
Evaluating the Value of Water in the Colorado River Basin
Support was provided to scope out two distinct approaches to evaluating the value of water in the Colorado River Basin. One approach uses a national natural capital accounting (NNCA) and the other uses an ecosystem services approach that includes stewardship economies and ecosystem valuation of restoration, mitigation, and nature-based solutions.
About the USGS Colorado River Basin ASIST Initiative...
The Colorado River Basin ASIST initiative is a landscape scale project to accelerate interdisciplinary science and application of advanced technology for stakeholder-driven challenges in the Colorado River Basin. The ASIST initiative supports science co-development with partners for integrated drought science and technology projects.
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