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Is the Colorado River Basin in a drought or is it aridifying? The Colorado River Basin is no stranger to drought. However, not all droughts are the same. It is important to know whether the current drought is actually the first stages of aridification, because planning for and managing a drought is different than aridification.

Take a trip through Grand Canyon with USGS geologists to learn about geologic mapping in this iconic landscape. On the trip, scientists from Arizona, New Mexico, California and Colorado also conducted a series of related research studies to inform the geologic maps and geologic history of Grand Canyon.

How wet was 2023 when compared to historical averages? This geonarrative compares precipitation and streamflow amounts observed during the 2023 water year with historical conditions in the Colorado River Basin over the last 30 years. While the 2023 water year was a wet year with above-average precipitation at many locations, it was not uniformly good or record-setting.

To help resource managers plan and mitigate long-term drought impacts in the Colorado River Basin, the USGS has launched a platform that brings together science, data, and mapping and analytical tools from across the basin in a central location.

The Colorado River Basin Actionable and Strategic Integrated Science and Technology Team has created an interactive map of USGS projects to highlight the integrated science currently conducted within the Colorado River Basin. These projects are not all inclusive of the work conducted by the USGS within the CRB, but highlight the broad range of integrated science currently conducted.

A geonarrative introducing an integrated approach to improve efficiency and delivery of actionable USGS drought science using advanced information technology.