Images

Image for the USGS Colorado River Basin Actionable and Strategic Integrated Science and Technology (ASIST) Initiative, geonarrative about the intersection of water use for copper mining and historic drought in the Lower Colorado River Basin (primarily Arizona), April 7, 2026.

Laura Shriver, RAMPS coordinator, gives a tour of a Northern Arizona RestoreNet site to Northern Arizona University students. Photo by Jessica Archibald (Diablo Trust).

Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey and University of Arizona collaborate with Diablo Trust ranchers on range improvement and restoration efforts on Northern Arizona rangelands. Photo by Jessica Archibald (Diablo Trust).

A RestoreNet site in Northern Arizona with late summer monsoon rain clouds in the background. Photo by Laura Shriver.

Map showing porphyry copper deposits and porphyry copper prospects in and near the Lower Colorado River Basin. 

Schematic flowchart showing relations between porphyry copper mining, drought, water resources, ecosystems, health, and economic factors in the Lower Colorado River Basin and adjoining areas

RestoreNet is a networked ecological restoration experiment spanning drylands of the American Southwest. It is engaging diverse partners to develop methods for successful revegetation projects that mitigate the effects of drought, invasion by non-native species, and land use practices.

Graphs showing water-year total precipitation and air temperatures in the Lower Colorado River Basin from 1896 to 2019, units modified from millimeters to inches of precipitation and from degrees Celsius to degrees Fahrenheit from: Tillman, F.D., Gangopadhyay, S., and Pruitt, T., 2020, Trends in recent historical and projected climate data for the Colorado River Bas

Pie chart showing proportions of major water uses (Agricultural, Municipal, Industrial, and Mining) in Arizona, USA, in 2015

A RestoreNet Field Trial Network restoration experiment site in the Sonoran Desert, Arizona, in spring 2024. Photo by Laura Shriver (USGS).

Characterizing geochemistry, provenance, and age of river terrace deposits to identify potential changes in the distribution, concentration, and sources of critical minerals and contaminants through the geologic past and into the present following mining activities. 

Scenic view of the red rock mesas surrounding Canyonlands Research Center (The Nature Conservancy) in southern Utah.

Cattle inside a grazing enclosure at Canyonlands Research Center (The Nature Conservancy) in southern Utah.

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation map of the Colorado River Basin accessed on October 15, 2024, at URL: CRBSmap.jpg (2550×3300) (usbr.gov)

Schematic diagram of water flow for conventional flotation processing of copper ores from Bleiwas, D.I., 2012, Estimated water requirements for the conventional flotation of copper ores: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2012–1089, 13 p., available at https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/ofr20121089

Desert marigold (Baileya multiradiata) blooming in a monitoring quadrat at a RestoreNet site in Northern Arizona. Photo by Laura Shriver (USGS).

Aerial photo of attendees at the 6th Federal Uncrewed Systems (UxS) Workshop taken from a Skydio drone in front of the Science and Technology building at the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 

Pie chart showing relative amounts of copper produced by leading copper producing states in the U.S. in 2019 (derived from data in Flanagan, D.M., 2019, Copper, in Metals and minerals: U.S. Geological Survey Minerals Yearbook 2019, v. 1, p. 20.1-20.30.

Graphs showing mean annual precipitation and air temperature trends in the Lower Colorado River Basin, 1896-2019, published in: Tillman, F.D., Gangopadhyay, S., and Pruitt, T., 2020, Trends in recent historical and projected climate data for the Colorado River Basin and potential effects on groundwater availability: U.S.

Reduced-size map of the Colorado River Basin from the USGS ASIST Initiative, Sept. 3, 2024

Map of the Colorado River Basin in Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California, Arizona, and New Mexico