The arid deserts that span the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico are in a state of increasing peril. Many of the towns and cities that have risen up out of this desert landscape are dependent on one resource: water from the Colorado River. As human beings continue to release greenhouse gasses into our atmosphere at a growing rate, the precarious situation facing the desert southwest is becoming increasingly unstable. With climate models predicting continued increases in air temperatures, it is likely that the drought problems plaguing the southwest will only be exasperated by climate change. That is why immediate and lasting changes are needed to help mitigate the increasing pressures put on this watershed by climate change.

Extensive research on the impacts of climate change on the snowpack of the Colorado River Basin has created a clear vision of the current future that is being witnessed today: lower water flows, more drought, and more intense fires. While residents, institutions and governments in California, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico race to adapt to these impacts, many headwater communities and state governments refuse to acknowledge the reality of climate change.

Megadrought in the Colorado Basin?

20180807_usdmThe Colorado River Basin provides water to almost 40 million people in 7 states. Over 80 percent of the Colorado River Basin’s flows come from snowmelt and mostly from the headwater states of Utah, Colorado and Wyoming. These headwater states comprise just 1/7th of the watershed but produce 6/7th of the Basin’s water. This is why headwater snowpack is critical to so many Western residents. Unfortunately, increased air temperatures are expected to lower Colorado River streamflows by 9-30 percent by mid century.

Droughts events are more likely to occur in the future, and likely to be longer as there will be less winter snowpack, more evapotranspiration from increased growing seasons, drier soils, and in some cases less precipitation. Even if precipitation were to increase or stay the same, increased temperatures will lead to diminished streamflows.

More than simply refusing to recognize that climate change is real, many headwater policies exacerbate climate change by incentivizing fossil fuel extraction that is dirtier and more energy intensive to produce than traditional oil and gas development. Although opportunities abound for headwater states to invest in renewable energies, states like Utah have worked hard to court dirty energy development, like tar sands and oil shale, regardless of the carbon emissions.

Read more about climate change impacts in the Colorado Basin at the links below.

In agreement with other large-scale assessments, our findings show that the Southwest and central and southern Great Plains are the more vulnerable areas to future climatic and socio-economic changes. -Vulnerability of U.S. Water Supply to Shortage. Romano Foti, et al., 2012