Colorado River Basin: Actionable and Strategic Integrated Science and Technology Active
Long-term Drought is Increasing Wildfire Occurrence and Severity in the Western U.S.
The Colorado River Basin is currently experiencing its worst drought in recorded history. The period from 2000 through 2020 is the driest 21-year period in over 100 years and one of the driest periods in the 1,200-year paleo-record. Drought impacts include worsening conditions in the 9 ecoregions, including habitat for several threatened and endangered species, wildland fire risks, reduced snowpack, changes in water availability and agricultural production; reduced recreation opportunities at National Parks, Wildlife Refuges, and Conservation areas; and impacts to over 20 Tribes for whom the basin is a physical, economic, and cultural resource.
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A multidisciplinary team of experts is working to determine how the USGS can develop integrative science, data, models, and tools that can be used to address key science challenges related to drought risk within the Colorado River Basin.
The complexity of issues facing the Colorado River Basin ecosystem and earth science aspects requires the USGS to have an interdisciplinary science approach, coordinating with multiple USGS mission areas, regional office, science centers, and non-USGS science partners to inform a broad base of decision makers. Contact the Rocky Mountain Region to learn more about these efforts.
Today’s Earth system challenges are far more complex and urgent than those that existed in 1879 when the USGS was established. Society’s greatest challenges are directly or indirectly linked to major areas of USGS science. This Science Strategy defines a vision and mission for how we will continue to evolve USGS Science to address these Earth system challenges.
U.S. Geological Survey 21st-Century science strategy 2020–2030 (usgs.gov)
Below are links to other science projects associated with this project.
USGS Integrated Drought Science Plan
Understanding Factors Influencing Rainbow Trout Growth in the Colorado River
Sediment Storage in the Colorado River
WaterSMART: Colorado River Basin
Drivers of Drought in the Upper Colorado River Basin
Projecting Future Streamflow in the Colorado River Basin
RCMAP - Uncompahgre River at Ridgway, Colorado
Snowpack Sublimation - Measurements and Modeling in the Colorado River Basin
This page contains links data releases produced by this project which also can be accessed at https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/.
Listed below are selected publications relevant to this project.
- Overview
The Colorado River Basin is currently experiencing its worst drought in recorded history. The period from 2000 through 2020 is the driest 21-year period in over 100 years and one of the driest periods in the 1,200-year paleo-record. Drought impacts include worsening conditions in the 9 ecoregions, including habitat for several threatened and endangered species, wildland fire risks, reduced snowpack, changes in water availability and agricultural production; reduced recreation opportunities at National Parks, Wildlife Refuges, and Conservation areas; and impacts to over 20 Tribes for whom the basin is a physical, economic, and cultural resource.
ConnectA multidisciplinary team of experts is working to determine how the USGS can develop integrative science, data, models, and tools that can be used to address key science challenges related to drought risk within the Colorado River Basin.
The complexity of issues facing the Colorado River Basin ecosystem and earth science aspects requires the USGS to have an interdisciplinary science approach, coordinating with multiple USGS mission areas, regional office, science centers, and non-USGS science partners to inform a broad base of decision makers. Contact the Rocky Mountain Region to learn more about these efforts.
Today’s Earth system challenges are far more complex and urgent than those that existed in 1879 when the USGS was established. Society’s greatest challenges are directly or indirectly linked to major areas of USGS science. This Science Strategy defines a vision and mission for how we will continue to evolve USGS Science to address these Earth system challenges.
U.S. Geological Survey 21st-Century science strategy 2020–2030 (usgs.gov)
- Science
Below are links to other science projects associated with this project.
USGS Integrated Drought Science Plan
The USGS National Integrated Drought Science Plan seeks to improve understanding of drought processes and impacts on human and natural systems through coordinated and multidisciplinary data collection, synthesis, analysis, and predictions generated from Mission Areas and a variety of partnerships. The long-term goal is to provide decision support tools and technologies to stakeholders for...ByFilter Total Items: 19Understanding Factors Influencing Rainbow Trout Growth in the Colorado River
Rainbow trout is a desirable sport fish that has been introduced in many locations around the world. Although introductions of rainbow trout and other nonnative fishes provide recreational fishing opportunities, they also pose threats to native fish populations. The Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program has tasked scientists and managers with identifying management options that allow rainbow...Sediment Storage in the Colorado River
The sandbars exposed along the shoreline of the Colorado River represent only a small fraction of the sand deposits in Grand Canyon, most of which are on the bed of the river in eddies and the channel. Current management practice includes efforts to maintain and build sandbars by releasing high flows from Glen Canyon Dam that are timed to coincide with periods of fine-sediment supply from...WaterSMART: Colorado River Basin
The Colorado River supplies water to more than 30 million people, irrigates nearly 4 million acres of cropland in the U.S. and Mexico, and supplies hydropower plants that generate more than 10 billion kilowatt-hours annually. Water from the river also provides for recreation and an array of environmental benefits, supporting a wide diversity of fish and wildlife and their habitats, and preserving...ByDrivers of Drought in the Upper Colorado River Basin
The purpose of this project is to investigate Colorado River basin droughts, and the role of temperature in influencing runoff efficiency. The project uses paleoclimatic data to extend instrumental climate and flow records, along with projected warming to assess the range of possible conditions that may be expected to occur and to determine how warming temperatures may influence river flow and...Projecting Future Streamflow in the Colorado River Basin
The Colorado River is the dominant water source for the southwestern United States, crossing through seven states before reaching Mexico. The river supplies water to approximately 36 million people, irrigates nearly six million acres of farmland within and beyond the basin, and contributes an estimated 26 billion dollars each year to the region’s recreational economy. Yet the Colorado River’s wateRCMAP - Uncompahgre River at Ridgway, Colorado
The U.S. Geological Survey was engaged in a program to monitor and assess the long-term geomorphic behavior of selected river and stream reaches that previously had undergone some physical modification. These modifications included natural channel adjustments to floods as well as intentional channel reconfigurations to alter the function or appearance of a river reach.Snowpack Sublimation - Measurements and Modeling in the Colorado River Basin
Snow is an essential resource in the western United States (U.S.), providing water for drinking, irrigation, industry, energy production, and ecosystems across much of the region. In the mountains of the western U.S., most precipitation falls as snow, which accumulates in seasonal snowpacks that serve as a large natural reservoir. Snowpack sublimation, which is analogous to evaporation from land... - Data
This page contains links data releases produced by this project which also can be accessed at https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/.
- Publications
Listed below are selected publications relevant to this project.