Colorado River Basin Case Study

Arizona has put 165,000 acre feet of water it has conserved into Lake Mead, a number that is expected to grow to 215,000 acre feet by the end of the year. The state wants to make sure that water is there for its use in the future and is not taken out and used by other states as is happening now. Lake Mead elevations are a concern because if the water in the lake drops below a certain level it triggers a shortage declaration that requires water usage restrictions. Arizona has contributing to that effort by placing conserved water in the lake. Arizona residents would like to see this water be put into the state's water banks and the Central Arizona Project, and used within the state rather than put into Lake Mead. I do believe “Drought plan” is required or needed to be re activate/re plan to face the drought issues in the west with more collaboration between the states in the Colorado River

The Colorado River is drying up and people are in desperate need for water. However, farmers and cities are fighting to see who should have the rights to the water. With 1,400 miles of water and 9 states using it- water is running out fast. Farmers that use the water

The Colorado RIver is best known for being the principal river of the southern United States and Mexico, but it soon could lose that title. Running about 1,500 miles long, the river is a vital source of water for agricultural and urban areas in the southern desert lands of North America. However over the past decade or so, the river has begun to deteriorate. There are many causes and solutions to the deterioration of the Colorado River.

Lots of adults and children lost their lives during the 1930s. On April 18,1935, a gigantic, black cloud piled up on the western horizon it was called the Dust Bowl. What caused the Dust Bowl?  The Dust Bowl was caused by mechanization, drought, and a significant loss of grass. As

One of the largest geographic physical structures in the United States is the Colorado River. Human activity and its interaction with this great river have an interesting history. The resources provided by the river have been used by humans, and caused conflict for human populations as well. One of these conflicts is water distribution, and the effects drought conditions have played in this distribution throughout the southwestern region. Major cities such as Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego, and other communities in the southwest depend on the river. It provides water for over 20 million people, irrigation for 2 million acres of land, four thousand megawatts of hydroelectric energy, and over twenty million annual visitors for

The Colorado River Basin starts in the Rocky Mountains and cuts through 1500 miles of canyon lands and deserts of seven US states and two Mexican states to supply a collection of dams and reservoirs with water to help irrigate cropland, support 40 million people, and provide hydroelectric power for the inland western United States [1,2]. From early settlement, rights over the river have been debated and reassigned to different states in the upper and lower basin; however, all the distribution patterns lead to excessive consumption of the resource. In 1922, the seven US states signed into the Colorado River Compact, which outlined the policy for the distribution rights to the water [3], however, this compact was written during an exceptionally

This image is provided to us by the State Water Commission through there General Water Resource MapService.

Introduction The Colorado River is shared by several states due to the large capacity of water that it holds and its proximity. These states include California, Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming. The Colorado water compact is a 1922 agreement that was signed by seven states within the US to govern the sharing or water resources along the Colorado River. Since the development of the compact, California has been the most disadvantaged state since it uses water that has been already used up by other states. Before the compact, most of the states that use the water were in conflict due to the unfair allocation of the water resources. The allocation led to the development of the upper and the lower basin with the division point at the Lee Ferry. Some of the states got more allocation than the others while some did not get any fresh water (Sally, 2012). The Colorado water compact is ruled by many contracts and rulings that were signed by the states that use the water.

1, 2015. Noble, Wade. "A Case Study in Efficiency – Agriculture and Water Use in the Yuma, Arizona Area." Yuma County

One major example of water shortage in the United States can be seen in the Arizona vs California supreme court case. The Colorado River basin supplies water to Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming. More than thirty-three million people depend on the Colorado river for water supply. The Colorado river supplies quarter of a million jobs. In recreational activities alone the river brings in twenty-six billion dollars. In 1922 the Colorado River compact was made allowing the seven states to use the river for their supply and demand of water. However this compact was made when it was considered “wetter” times, because the compact divvied up to each state 's more than

Abraham Lustgarten has written a very informative article that is published by Pro Publica and titled “How the West Overcounts Its Water Supplies.” In great detail, he analyzes the drought situation in Arizona and California to draw attention the underlying cause: the miscounting of available water. There is miscounting because officials are refusing to legally accept that the major water resource of the West—the Colorado River—is interconnected with underground water resources. All in all, Lustgarten writes a convincing article that effectively addresses the need for officials to recognize the interconnection of ground and surface water so that water shortage in the West can be better managed; he does this through his ability to gain the

As we all know the Colorado river is shared by many farmers who live by it. But for the past sixteen years it's been in a drought and shows no signs of stopping.

Even though the dams provide immense water storage at a cost of the Colorado River ecosystem, the thirst of the southwest continues to increase. Conservation will help to slow the thirst, but the ever increasing demanded requires more water in the system. The three fastest-growing US states (Nevada, Arizona and Utah) are located within the Colorado River basin and all seven states within the basin outpace the national average. Four of the ten fastest growing metro areas: St. George and Provo in Utah, Las Vegas in Nevada and Greenly in Colorado.

A Scarcity of Water is Occurring in The Rio Grande Basin. What is the source that more than six million people rely for drinking water and irrigation? What river did Will Rodgers describe as “the only river I know that is in need of irrigating?” It is the Rio Grande. With the help of hours of research, this paper will discuss some information about The Rio Grande Basin, why The Rio Grande Basin has been declining and why, the effect that this occurrence has on the environment as well as the economy, and to sum it all up a few ideas of what can be done to help the situation.

Water Balance of Berkeley, California and Terre Haute, Indiana Johnny L. Luckett Excelsior College Abstract This paper discovers the water budget for Berkeley, California in comparison to Terre Haute, Indiana. The two cities precipitation differs throughout the twelve month calendar year where many of the heavy precipitation months are totally opposite. Berkeley California’s winters, where the majority of rain occurs and Terre Haute, Indiana where the rainfall is observed as consistently disseminated throughout the year evenly. This paper will also magnify geographic position, climate and elevation in contrast of the two cities that reflects the water budget outlined in Project 1: Water Balance defined in