The Colorado River is an iconic andstoried symbol of the American West,

a dramatically beautiful river that descends from high mountains into deep canyons and red rock deserts. The River supports plants, animals and ecosystems adapted to both drought and surgring floods. The Colorado’s waters weave a ribbon of green through deserts and mountains, providing a flyway for hundres of species of migratory songbirds.

The Colorado supplies drinking water to more than 33 million people, irrigates more than 4 million acres of land and serves as the lifeblood of the American

The Colorado River Basin Protecting Water Sources for 33 Million People Across Seven States

Southwest. One of the world’s hardest working and best loved rivers, the Colorado produces 4,200 megawatts of hydropower to the region’s cities and supports a thriving $26 billion recreation and tourism industry. Water from the Colorado, precious in this arid region, is distributed through a complex system of dams, pipelines and canals, with forty five percent of the Colorado’s water diverted out of the basin for farm fields, cities and industry.

The largest cities in the Southwest, including Denver, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Albuquerque, Las Vegas and Salt Lake City, rely heavily on water supplied by the

Colorado River. By 2050, the region’s population is projected to grow to 50 million, further increasing demand on the river.

Rising Demand, Dwindling Supply

Dramatic population growth in the region—the fastest in the U.S.—is increasing water demand at the same time that drought and warming temperatures are diminishing supply.

Drought and over-allocation are pitting farmers, cities and environmental interests against each other in a zero-sum game that only fosters conflict.

© Larry Johnson © Kathy Lichtendahl © Nick Hall © iStockphoto

Green River© Rob Buirgy III

Native fish and birds are in decline, while cities and farms struggle with reduced water supplies. In the ultimate testament to the demands put on the Colorado, the river no longer reaches the sea.

The Colorado River Basin has been in the grip of a serious drought since 1999, revealing the over-allocation of its water supplies and bringing the problem of water shortages into sharper focus. This presents a major opportunity to work with cities, businesses and the agriculture community to demonstrate how innovative water management can reduce conflict, provide secure water supplies and restore health to rivers that flow through arid lands. These efforts will yield practical knowledge that may be applied to similarly challenged rivers around the world.

Demonstrating Success

Through our Colorado River Program, The Nature Conservancy works with partners to bring innovation and flexibility to water management. The Conservancy works with cities, irrigation companies, businesses and other non-profit organizations, as well as federal, state and local water managers, to devise new ways to store, allocate and distribute water equitably so that all those who need water can thrive.

The Conservancy works with partners at twelve sites within the Colorado River Basin to develop innovative river management policies and practices that protect water supplies for people and nature. Each site provides an opportunity to test and refine solutions that we then disseminate across the basin. Coordinating our goals and objectives through a basin-wide program makes our work more efficient and effective.

Denver’s 1.3 million residents get more than 40 percent of their water from reservoirs fed by pipelines from the Colorado River, across the Continental Divide. As the Basin’s supplies are stretched more thinly, utilities like Denver Water must combine water conservation measures with shoring up existing water supplies during times of drought, as their water rights are often superseded by those of agricultural interests. We are exploring ways to ensure that when residents of cities in Colorado and other Upper Basin

states turn on their taps in times of extreme drought, water still flows.

The Conservancy brings together the municipal, agricultural and industrial sectors to find ways to protect water supplies for people and nature. These solutions include water banking, agricultural water-use efficiency, groundwater recharge networks and optimization of dam and reservoir operations.

Water Banking. The Conservancy co-facilitates the Water Bank Work Group, a regional initiative that is exploring how to move agricultural water between farms, growing cities and river ecosystems during extreme shortages on the Colorado River. Water banking establishes the legal and operational means for temporary water transfers, making it possible to allocate water savings to cities and the environment. We are helping establish water banking within the State of Colorado, laying groundwork for a regional water bank that would facilitate the distribution of water to where it is most critically needed.

lands where runoff can be captured and stored, thereby replenishing groundwater, the area’s principal source of drinking water.

Dam and Reservoir Operations. The Conservancy is working with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and local stakeholders along the Green River in Utah, the San Juan River in New Mexico and at other important rivers in the Basin to change the management of dams to improve water quality and supply, restore wildlife habitat and support outdoor recreation.

© Harold E. Malde

Agricultural Water-Use Efficiency. The Conservancy works with farmers and irrigation associations in rural communities to increase water-use efficiency, freeing up supplies that can be used to meet cities’ needs and restore healthy river flows. We are also working to develop and establish policies at the state level that will recognize the value of—and compensate farmers for—agricultural water savings.

Groundwater Recharge. The Nature Conservancy has been working for many years with the Upper San Pedro Partnership to meet the water needs of the growing City of Sierra Vista and the Army’s Fort Huachuca while restoring the habitats of the San Pedro River. The Conservancy works closely with the City and the Department of Defense to protect

© Raquel Baranow

Future Needs

The Conservancy is working to restore and protect high-quality water supplies for cities, farms and the environment by establishing a working water bank for the State of Colorado; creating a regional groundwater recharge network in Arizona; and improving the operation of four major dams and several smaller facilities across the Colorado River Basin. Your support will help us acheive these goals.

“As the world experiences unprecedented stresses on its water resources and municipal treatment and delivery systems, there has never been a more poignant time to focus more acutely on the element that enables human life and economic prosperity. Whether it is the need to examine policies impairing our ability to adapt, or the development of technologies that will allow us to survive, action is required now.” – Pat Mulroy, General Manager, Southern Nevada Water Authority