Chapter
May 14, 2020
World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2020

Colorado River Basin Governance, Decision Making, and Alternative Approaches

Publication: World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2020: Water Resources Planning and Management and Irrigation and Drainage

ABSTRACT

The Colorado River Basin supports agricultural, municipal, industrial, and environmental uses in seven states in the United States and in Mexico. This highly overallocated basin faces significant challenges in managing water and environmental resources under a complex set of compacts, federal laws, court decisions, decrees, contracts, and regulatory guidelines know collectively as the “Law of the River”. This paper highlights several key physical and institutional challenges facing the basin and summarizes the existing institutional processes in place for governance and decision making. The discussion encourages a more holistic approach to management of the Colorado River by integrating management and decision-making from the current program-specific management approach.

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REFERENCES

CNRA (California Natural Resources Agency), Salton Sea Management Program, Phase I: 10 Year Plan, August 2018, http://resources.ca.gov/docs/salton_sea/ssmp-10-year-plan/SSMP-Phase-I-10-YR-Plan-with-appendices.pdf
Forum (Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum), 2017 Review Water Quality Standards for Salinity, Colorado River System, Triennial review, October 2017, https://www.coloradoriversalinity.org/docs/2017%20Review%20-%20FINAL.pdf
Kuhn, Eric, and John Fleck, The Upper Basin, Lower Basin, and Mexico: Coexisting on the Post-2026 Colorado River, Science Be Dammed Working Paper Series No. 2019-022019, Draft: 6/1/2019. http://www.inkstain.net/fleck/wp-content/uploads/2019-06-09_SBDWP_2019-02.pdf
IBWC, (International Boundary and Water Commission), United States and Mexico, Joint Report of the Principal Engineers with the Implementing Details of the Binational Water Scarcity Contingency Plan in the Colorado River Basin, July 2019, https://www.ibwc.gov/Files/joint_report_min323_bi_water_scarcity_contingency_plan_final.pdf
QSA, (Quantification Settlement Agreement and Related Agreements and Documents), October 2003, https://www.sdcwa.org/sites/default/files/files/QSA_final.pdf
Reclamation, Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program, Final Habitat Conservation Plan, Volume II, December 2004a, https://www.lcrmscp.gov/publications/hcp_volii_2004.pdf
Reclamation, Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program, Final Biological Assessment, Volume III, December 2004b, https://www.lcrmscp.gov/publications/voliii_biol_assessment.pdf
Reclamation, Record of Decision Colorado River Interim Guidelines for Lower Basin Shortages and the Coordinated Operations for Lake Powell and Lake Mead, December 2007, https://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/programs/strategies/RecordofDecision.pdf
Reclamation, Colorado River Basin Water Supply and Demand Study, December 2012, https://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/programs/crbstudy/finalreport/studyrpt.html
Reclamation, Record of Decision for the Glen Canyon Dam Long-Term Experimental and Management Plan, Final Environmental Impact Statement, 2016, http://ltempeis.anl.gov/documents/docs/LTEMP_ROD.pdf
Reclamation, Colorado River Basin Ten Tribes Partnership Tribal Water Study, Study Report, December 2018, https://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/programs/crbstudy/tws/finalreport.html
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Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Go to World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2020
World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2020: Water Resources Planning and Management and Irrigation and Drainage
Pages: 121 - 130
Editors: Sajjad Ahmad, Ph.D., and Regan Murray, Ph.D.
ISBN (Online): 978-0-7844-8295-7

History

Published online: May 14, 2020
Published in print: May 14, 2020

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Authors

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Rich Juricich, M.ASCE [email protected]
P.E.
Colorado River Board of California, Glendale, CA. E-mail: [email protected]

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