AGENDA: Hard Times on the Colorado River: Drought, Growth and the Future of the Compact

Sponsors and Contributors: Colorado Water Conservation Board, Center for Advanced Decision Support for Water and Environmental Systems, Western Water Assessment, CU-CIRES/NOAA, Hydrosphere Resource Consultants, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, Colorado Foundation for Water Education, Patrick, Miller & Kropf, P.C., William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. The Colorado River is approaching a crossroads. For the first time in its history, satisfying water demands in one state may require curtailing legally-recognized uses in another. This is not the first instance of water shortages in the region, and conflict among the seven Colorado River states is certainly not new. But the potential shortages on the horizon are larger in scale and magnitude than ever seen before, and the regional insurance policy against this sort of catastrophe, the storage reservoirs of Lake Powell and Mead, are being pushed to their limits. Key water decision-makers from throughout the basin will come together to explore a variety of topics pertaining to the Law of the River: the ability of the system to meet water delivery and hydropower obligations, potential impacts of shortages to water users and the environment, and solutions for future management