New research: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 10:25, 8 July 2026

Overview

This section of the Wiki highlights new and recent (2020- ) research publications relevant to the management of water and related resources in the Colorado River Basin: peer-reviewed papers, book chapters, agency reports, and other documents.

Below, these publications are listed by year of publication and organized by topic. Some publications are listed under more than one topic. A stable link to the online publication is provided at the end of each listing; for journal articles, the link goes to the article's homepage at the publisher's website--where users may find that the article is paywalled.

Wiki library

All of the 600+ publications listed below, plus another 400+ pre-2020 publications that were used as references for the 2020 CRB State of the Science report, can also be viewed in this searchable online database (a Zotero library).

The library allows users to view the bibliographic information like shown below, plus the abstract for many publications, and to search by author, year, or keyword. Links are provided to the vast majority of these publications; for journal articles, the link goes to the article's homepage at the publisher's website.

2026

Weather and climate

Ding, Q., Shaw, T., Wang, H., Baxter, I., and Zhu, J. (2026). Regional drying over the Western U.S. driven by enhanced atmospheric subsidence amid global moistening from 1980 to 2020. Nature Communications, 17(1), 5270. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-71818-w

Harrold, M., Tessendorf, S. A., Xue, L., et al. (2026). Evaluating the Precipitation Impacts of Cloud Seeding in Southern Wyoming and Northern Colorado using WRF-WxMod® within an Ensemble Modeling Framework. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, e250099. https://doi.org/10.1175/JAMC-D-25-0099.1

Hogan, D., Schwat, E., Gutmann, E., Vano, J., and Lundquist, J. D. (2026). Synoptic-Scale Systems Control Total Winter Sublimation at an Alpine Site. Journal of Hydrometeorology, 27(4), 529–547. https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-25-0143.1

Huang, H., Adebiyi, A. A., Liu, Y., et al. (2026). Spring Dust in Colorado Plateau: Transport Pathways and Interannual Variability Derived From Two Decades of MERRA-2 Reanalysis. Geophysical Research Letters, 53(1), e2025GL119096. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL119096

McQuillan, K. A., Allen, G. H., Pearson, C., et al. (2026). Improving the Spatial Representation of Reservoir Evaporation Using SAR-Based Wind Fields. IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, 23, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1109/LGRS.2026.3652374

Meyer, J. D. D., Wright, T. E., Gu, H., and Gillies, R. R. (2026). Recent trends of Utah’s changing wintertime weather and climate characteristics. Journal of Climate, e250543. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-25-0543.1

Shelton, S., Ballav, S., Conger, L., et al. (2026). Impacts of subtropical Pacific variability on snow precipitation fraction (SPF) in the Upper Colorado River Basin. Environmental Research Letters, 21(9), 094007. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ae58bb

Siler, N., Koszuta, M., Rahimi, S., et al. (2026). Examining the Robustness of Weakened Orographic Influence on Precipitation in Downscaled Climate Projections Over the Western US. Geophysical Research Letters, 53(1), e2025GL119251. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL119251

Tien, Y.-C., and Gebremichael, M. (2026). Cool-season precipitation forecast evaluation over the headwaters of Central Valley and the Colorado River basin. Climate Dynamics, 64(5), 219. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-026-08108-0

Touma, D., and Deser, C. (2026). Projected Changes in Both Mean Climate and Climate Variability Drive Substantial Increases in Extreme Fire Weather in the Western United States. Journal of Climate, 39(14), 3953–3970. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-25-0077.1

Zhou, R., Perkins, R., Juergensen, D., et al. (2026). Seasonal variability, sources, and parameterization of ice-nucleating particles in the Rocky Mountain region: Importance of soil dust and biological contributions. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 26(2), 1515–1535. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-1515-2026

Hydrology and water availability

Becker, S. M., Davies, G. E., Franz, T. E., Lampard, T. D., and Caldwell, T. G. (2026). Network‐wide assessment of soil water content calibration and sensitivity to biomass proxies using cosmic‐ray neutron sensing in the Roaring Fork Basin, Colorado. Vadose Zone Journal, 25(3), e70112. https://doi.org/10.1002/vzj2.70112

Besso, H., Mower, R., Pflug, J. M., and Lundquist, J. D. (2026). Mapping 1 April SWE in the Western US Using Standardized Anomalies and Quantiles From SWE Reanalysis and In Situ Stations. Water Resources Research, 62(1), e2025WR040902. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025WR040902

Bonacci, O., Žaknić-Ćatović, A., and Roje-Bonacci, T. (2026). Analysis of Annual Water Level Variability in the Mead and Powell Reservoirs of the Colorado River. Water, 18(2), 224. https://doi.org/10.3390/w18020224

Burns, M. C., and Maxwell, R. M. (2026). Comparing Snow Water Equivalent Estimations From Long Short-Term Memory Networks and Physics-Based Models in the Western United States. Water Resources Research, 62(2), e2025WR041178. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025WR041178

Celupica-Liu, C., Ayres, N., and Ge, S. (2026). A novel method to estimate baseflow using open-source well data. Hydrogeology Journal. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-026-03087-2

Currier, W. R., Abel, M. R., Smith, R., Prairie, J., Baker, S., Butler, A., and Gutmann, E. D. (2026). Scale- and Seasonal-Dependent Sensitivity of Hydrologic Projections in the Colorado River Basin to Different Downscaling Methods. Journal of Hydrometeorology, 27(5), 737–749. https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-25-0155.1

Dixit, A., Rahimi, S., Huang, L., et al. (2026). High-resolution models better simulate historical snowpack declines in the Upper Colorado River Basin. Environmental Research Letters, 21(5), 054012. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ae4113

Dougherty, E. M., Gochis, D., Harrold, M., et al. (2026). Simulated Hydrologic Impacts of Cloud Seeding in the North Platte and Little Snake River Basins of Wyoming. Water Resources Research, 62(2), e2024WR039383. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024WR039383

Fox, A. S., Frank, J. M., Massman, W. J., and Ewers, B. E. (2026). Extracting Signals of Snowmelt From the Surface Energy Budget at a Rocky Mountain Eddy Covariance Site. Water Resources Research, 62(6), e2025WR042626. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025WR042626

Giovando, J., and Niemann, J. D. (2026). Vulnerability of Snowpack to Wildfire and Changing Climate within Western U.S. Ecoregions. Hydrological Processes, 40(2), e70377. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.70377

Gourley, K. C., Bennett, R. A., and Harig, C. (2026). Quantifying Changes in Water Loading in the U.S. Southwest via Comparison of GNSS, GRACE, and SWE Data Sets. Water Resources Research, 62(2), e2025WR040324. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025WR040324

Hogan, D., Schwat, E., Gutmann, E., Vano, J., and Lundquist, J. D. (2026). Synoptic-Scale Systems Control Total Winter Sublimation at an Alpine Site. Journal of Hydrometeorology, 27(4), 529–547. https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-25-0143.1

Jackson, R., O’Brien, J., Grover, M., et al. (2026). Surface Quantitative Precipitation Estimates (SQUIRE) of Snow Water Equivalent from the Surface Atmospheric Integrated Field Laboratory. Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 43(1), 77–93. https://doi.org/10.1175/JTECH-D-25-0023.1

Jadallah, N., and Maxwell, R. M. (2026). Model-based disaggregation of satellite-based total water storage anomalies for the Upper Colorado River Basin. Journal of Hydrology, 677, 135839. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2026.135839

McQuillan, K. A., Allen, G. H., Pearson, C., et al. (2026). Improving the Spatial Representation of Reservoir Evaporation Using SAR-Based Wind Fields. IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, 23, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1109/LGRS.2026.3652374

Miller, O., P Miller, M., Longley, P., Schmadel, N., Wise, D., McDonnell, M., and Alder, J. (2026). Baseflow and snowmelt sustained streamflow in the Upper Colorado River Basin, 1986–2020. Environmental Research: Water, 2(2), 021002. https://doi.org/10.1088/3033-4942/ae6727

Mohajer, B., Famiglietti, J. S., Chandanpurkar, H. A., Hung, F., and Abdelmohsen, K. (2026). Key natural influences on groundwater storage changes in Central and Southern Arizona. Scientific Reports, 16(1), 14859. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-44132-0

Moiz, A., and Mascaro, G. (2026). Multiscale Assessment of the Water Balance Components in Arizona Simulated by the National Water Model. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 62(1), e70080. https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.70080

Palumbo, D., Gangopadhyay, S., and Lall, U. (2026). Precipitation, moderated by spring temperature and vegetation, drives runoff efficiency in the Upper Colorado River Basin, USA. Communications Earth & Environment, 7(1), 115. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-03136-w

Schultz, K., Morrison, R. R., Rathburn, S., Mertz, C., and Christensen, N. (2026). Forensic Hydraulic Analysis of Floodplain Connectivity Driven by Historical Beaver Dams in Colorado Headwater Streams. River Research and Applications, rra.70165. https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.70165

Siirila-Woodburn, E. R., Thiros, N., Newcomer, M., et al. (2026). Warming and snow loss increase reliance on old groundwater in a Colorado River headwater. Nature Geoscience, 19(5), 549–555. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-026-01945-y

Small, E. E., Raleigh, M. S., and Herbert, J. N. (2026). Measure Less, Map More: Using Machine Learning, Physiography, and Prior Depth Maps to Extrapolate In‐Swath Snow Depth Measurements Across Mountain Basins. Geophysical Research Letters, 53(10), e2026GL121711. https://doi.org/10.1029/2026GL121711

Wang, Z., Ghimire, S., Whitney, K. M., Mascaro, G., Xiao, M., Yue, H., and Vivoni, E. R. (2026). Revisiting the application of variable infiltration capacity (VIC) model in the Colorado River Basin using SMAP and GRACE. Scientific Reports, 16(1), 15890. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-47430-9

Water management, planning, and policy

Alberts, Z. (2026). The Old Flows with the New: Interstate Compacts as a Modern Mechanism for Water Governance on the Colorado River. Water Law Review, 29(1), 1–19. https://digitalcommons.du.edu/wlr/vol29/iss1/5/

Berggren, J., and Wheeler, K. (2026). The Utility of Operationally Neutral and Flexible Conservation Pools in the Colorado River Basin. Concept Paper. Western Resource Advocates. 6 p. https://westernresourceadvocates.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/2026-5-4-Conservation-Pools.pdf

Broman, D., Voisin, N., Steinschneider, S., et al. (2026). How Hydropower Operations Mitigate Flow Forecast Uncertainties to Maintain Grid Services in the Western U.S. Water Resources Research, 62(2), e2025WR040943. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025WR040943

Clark, W. (2026). Gorsuch’s Dissent and the Current State of Navajo Water Rights Claims. Utah Law Review, 2026(1). https://doi.org/10.63140/adyzx21-8-

Crespo, D., Nemati, M., Dinar, A., Frankel, Z., and Halberg, N. (2026). Developing a Decision Support Model to Assess the Value of Cooperation Benefits Under Climate Change: Case of the Colorado River Basin in the United States. In M. Shahbazbegian & A. Dinar (Eds.), Decision Support Models to Assist International and Transboundary Water Negotiations: Methodologies and Applications. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/9780197802601.003.0008

Fager, B., Myers, A., Porse, E., and Rosenberg, D. (2026). How a 3 to 5-Year Experimental Lake Powell and Lake Mead Release Program Tied to Reservoir Inflows can be a Win for Adaptive Risk Management. Utah State University. https://doi.org/10.26077/749C-2BD9

Fager, B., Rosenberg, D., and Porse, E. (2026). Why Communicating Minimum Drawdown Elevations for Lake Powell and Lake Mead Can Mitigate Risks of Volatile Colorado River Flow. Utah State University. https://doi.org/10.15142/H11W-A657

Gerlak, A. K., Smith, G., Loera Alonso, A. R. J., et al. (2026). Perspectives on United States–Mexico Cooperation on the Colorado River. Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, 68(1), 14–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/00139157.2025.2575762

Kuhn, E., Castle, A., de la Parra, C., Fleck, J., Schmidt, J., Sorensen, K., and Tara, K. (2026). Rethinking How the United States and Mexico Share the Colorado River. Getches-Wilkinson Center, University of Colorado Boulder. 27 p. https://www.colorado.edu/center/gwc/media/754

Loera Alonso, A. R. J., Gerlak, A. K., and Smith, G. (2026). Minute 330 of the US–Mexico Water Treaty: A Testament to Transboundary Cooperation Amidst Drought in the Colorado River Basin. Water, 18(7), 775. https://doi.org/10.3390/w18070775

Ma, X., Wang, J., Gharari, S., Mizukami, N., and Lettenmaier, D. P. (2026). Monitoring Reservoir Storage Using SWOT Satellite Observations and a Reservoir Operation Model. Water Resources Research, 62(3), e2025WR041223. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025WR041223

Menjivar Maldonado, A., Megdal, S. B., and Whiteman Runs Him, H. (2026). Tribal Water Rights Settlement Acts Involving Arizona and Their Impacts on Water Security. Water, 18(6), 741. https://doi.org/10.3390/w18060741

Reclamation. (2026). Post-2026 Operational Guidelines and Strategies for Lake Powell and Lake Mead – Draft Environmental Impact Statement. Bureau of Reclamation, Upper and Lower Colorado Basins, Interior Regions 7 and 8. January 2026. https://www.usbr.gov/ColoradoRiverBasin/post2026/draft-eis/index.html

Rice, J. (2026). The Glen Canyon Dam, the flood of 1983, and a normal accident on the Colorado River corridor. Water History. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12685-026-00392-1

Scariano, J. (2026). Charging Ahead or Drying Up? Lithium Extraction vs Colorado River Stewardship. Columbia Journal of Environmental Law, 51(1), 148–173. https://doi.org/10.52214/cjel.v51i1.14600

Schumacher, B. L., Yost, M. A., Ulrich-Schad, J. D., Barker, B., and Null, S. E. (2026). Agricultural Water Manager Perspectives on Water Markets in Utah. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 62(1), e70085. https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.70085

Sorensen, K., Porter, S., Castle, A., et al. (2026). Considerations for Assigned Water after Expiration of the 2007 Guidelines (p. 42). Kyl Center for Water Policy at Morrison Institute. https://morrisoninstitute.asu.edu/kyl-center-water-policy/publication/considerations-assigned-water-after-expiration-2007-guidelines

Tadych, D. E., Colby, B. G., and Condon, L. E. (2026). Impact of Groundwater Management on Drought Responses in the Southwest. Weather, Climate, and Society, 18(1), 75–89. https://doi.org/10.1175/WCAS-D-24-0156.1

Water use

ASU Kyl Center. (2026). From Copper, Cattle and Cotton to Chips and Cloud Computing: Large Water Uses in Central Arizona (p. 23). Kyl Center for Water Policy at Morrison Institute. https://morrisoninstitute.asu.edu/copper-cattle-and-cotton-chips-and-cloud-computing-large-water-uses-central-arizona

Crespo, D., Nemati, M., Dinar, A., Frankel, Z., and Halberg, N. (2026). Climate change impacts and adaptation in the agricultural sector of the Colorado River Basin: A hydro-economic analysis. In A. Dinar and R. O. Mendelsohn (Eds.), Handbook on Climate Change Impacts, Mitigation, and Adaptation in Agriculture (pp. 258–278). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781035344970.00021

Elsadek, E. A., Attalah, S., Williams, C., Thorp, K. R., Wang, D., and Elshikha, D. E. M. (2026). Comparing Cotton ET Data from a Satellite Platform, In Situ Sensor, and Soil Water Balance Method in Arizona. Agriculture, 16(2), 228. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture16020228

Lucas, N., and Haghdadi, M. (2026). Golf (dis)courses: A political ecology analysis of water usage in an arid area. Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space, 25148486251411654. https://doi.org/10.1177/25148486251411654

Qubaja, R., Vivoni, E. R., Moinester, M., and Pataki, D. E. (2026). Open canal evaporation in an arid urban environment in Arizona estimated with measurements of water isotopes. Journal of Hydrology, 677, 135765. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2026.135765

Scariano, J. (2026). Charging Ahead or Drying Up? Lithium Extraction vs Colorado River Stewardship. Columbia Journal of Environmental Law, 51(1), 148–173. https://doi.org/10.52214/cjel.v51i1.14600

Water quality and sediment

Carlson, J. (2026). Expanding the Good Samaritan Program: Cleaning Up the Colorado River, One Mine at a Time. Wyoming Law Review, 26(2), 375–398. https://doi.org/10.59643/1942-9916.1538

Clements, E., Crank, K., Hannoun, D., and Gerrity, D. (2026). Quantitative microbial risk assessment of the impact of drought and seasonality on a de facto reuse system in Southern Nevada, USA. Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology, 12(2), 620–635. https://doi.org/10.1039/D5EW00514K

Day, N. K., King, T. V., and Mosbrucker, A. R. (2026). A Comparison of Non-Contact Methods for Measuring Turbidity in the Colorado River. Remote Sensing, 18(4), 638. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs18040638

Han, H., Park, S., Bazrkar, M. H., et al. (2026). Integrated Random Forest and APEX-MODFLOW model for predicting and mapping river salinity in the Animas Watershed, Colorado River Basin. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, 64, 103302. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2026.103302

Manning, A. H., Runkel, R. L., Morrison, J. M., et al. (2026). Distinguishing natural from mining-related metal sources by including streambank groundwater data in a stream mass loading study. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, 277, 104841. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconhyd.2026.104841

Miller, M. P., Miller, O. L., Longley, P. C., et al. (2026). The Role of Groundwater in Contributing to Surface Water Salinization in the Upper Colorado River Basin. Geophysical Research Letters, 53(8), e2025GL118834. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL118834

Sartain, S., Kaplinski, M., Kohl, K., Chapman, K., Bransky, N., Sankey, J. B., and Grams, P. (2026). Continuous and high-resolution longitudinal profiles of the water surface and riverbed elevation for 282 miles of the Colorado River from Lees Ferry to Pearce Ferry, Arizona, 2021. Scientific Investigations Report 2026–5010, 40 p. US Geological Survey. https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20265010

Steigerwald, J., Trenholm, R., Quiñones, O., Vanderford, B. J., and Dickenson, E. (2026). Identifying sources of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in an arid environment with de facto reuse. Frontiers in Environmental Chemistry, Volume 7-2026. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/environmental-chemistry/articles/10.3389/fenvc.2026.1694851

Stewart, B. D., Bone, S. E., Spielman-Sun, E., et al. (2026). Organic colloid composition in variable-redox porewaters within a mountainous floodplain. Water Research, 295, 125556. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2026.125556

Ecosystems and environment

Bromley, F. L., Broxton, P. D., Zhang, J., et al. (2026). Groundwater Dependency and Hydroclimatic Influences on Riparian and Upland Vegetation Productivity, Upper San Pedro, Arizona, United States. Hydrological Processes, 40(3), e70405. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.70405

Cheng, Y., McColl, K. A., Mickley, L. J., and Feng, X. (2026). Large Overestimation of Projected Western U.S. Wildfire Burned Forest Area With Warming. AGU Advances, 7(2), e2026AV002350. https://doi.org/10.1029/2026AV002350

Clark Barkalow, S. L., Mortensen, J. G., and Platania, S. P. (2026). Using fin ray microchemistry to discriminate hatchery sources and evaluate natural recruitment of an endangered catostomid, Razorback Sucker, in the San Juan River, Colorado River basin. North American Journal of Fisheries Management, 46(3), 621–635. https://doi.org/10.1093/najfmt/vqag015

Dzul, M. C., Van Haverbeke, D. R., Young, K., Yackulic, C. B., Rinker, P., and Yard, M. (2026). Integrating mark-recapture, catch, and expert habitat assessments to quantify recent increases in humpback chub abundance over a 200 km long river segment of the Colorado River in western Grand Canyon. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 83, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2025-0169

Friesen, B., Pennock, C. A., and Budy, P. (2026). Invasion potential of nonnative fishes through a large western dam into an iconic and vulnerable ecosystem. Hydrobiologia. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-026-06137-8

González-Sargas, E., Meehan, T. D., Hinojosa-Huerta, O., et al. (2026). Bird guilds exhibit varied responses to floodplain forest restoration in the Colorado River delta, Mexico. Journal of Arid Environments, 234, 105558. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2026.105558

Kasprak, A., Bowen, B., DeHoff, M., et al. (2026). Decadal-Scale Trajectories of Land Cover Change Along the Colorado and San Juan Rivers in Response to Declining Water Storage in Lake Powell Reservoir. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 131(2), e2025JG009355. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025JG009355

Richer, E. E., Friesen, B., Brubaker, A. E., Kowalski, D. A., Kondratieff, M. C., and Barnes, T. A. (2026). Making Waves: The Effects of Whitewater Parks on Fish Passage in Colorado. River Research and Applications, 42(2), 295–310. https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.70069

Schultz, K., Morrison, R. R., Rathburn, S., Mertz, C., and Christensen, N. (2026). Forensic Hydraulic Analysis of Floodplain Connectivity Driven by Historical Beaver Dams in Colorado Headwater Streams. River Research and Applications, rra.70165. https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.70165

Soles, E., Cooper, M., and Saito, L. (2026). Anastomosis and Low Flows Sustain Resilient Groundwater Dependent Riparian Floodplains in an Agricultural River Valley, New Mexico. Hydrological Processes, 40(2), e70406. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.70406

Stevens, L. E., Holway, J. H., and Ellsworth, C. (2026). Tributary-to-Mainstream Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Discontinuities in the Colorado River, Southwestern USA. Water, 18(3), 395. https://doi.org/10.3390/w18030395

Societal and economic issues

Lucas, N., and Haghdadi, M. (2026). Golf (dis)courses: A political ecology analysis of water usage in an arid area. Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space, 25148486251411654. https://doi.org/10.1177/25148486251411654

Menjivar Maldonado, A., Megdal, S. B., and Whiteman Runs Him, H. (2026). Tribal Water Rights Settlement Acts Involving Arizona and Their Impacts on Water Security. Water, 18(6), 741. https://doi.org/10.3390/w18060741

2025

Cross-cutting reports

Anderson, P. J., Godaire, J. E., Jones, D. K., et al. (2025). Collaborative drought science planning in the Colorado River Basin. Open-File Report No. 2025–1041; 32 p. U.S. Geological Survey. https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20251041

Weather and climate

Adler, B., Caicedo, V., Butterworth, B. J., et al. (2025). The Short Life of Upvalley Wind in a High‐Altitude Valley in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 130(11), e2025JD043455. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025JD043455

Alessi, M. J., Connolly, C. J., Barnes, E. A., and Rugenstein, M. (2025). Southern Hemisphere Surface Warming Drives Southwestern U.S. Precipitation according to AI-Informed Climate Model Simulations. Journal of Climate, 38(24), 7655–7667. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-25-0176.1

Battula, S. B., Cordeira, J. M., Nash, D., Rutz, J. J., and Ralph, F. M. (2025). Leveraging the Atmospheric River Framework to Categorize Top-Decile Precipitation Regimes in Colorado. Geophysical Research Letters, 52(18), e2025GL117528. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL117528

Cleveland, Z., Laguë, M., and Strong, C. (2025). North American Monsoon Response to Antecedent Soil Moisture and Snow in the Colorado Plateau. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 130(16), e2024JD043026. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024JD043026

Currier, W. R., McCrary, R., Abel, M. R., et al. (2025). End-of-Century Changes in Orographic Precipitation with the Intermediate Complexity Atmospheric Research Model over the Western United States. Journal of Hydrometeorology, 26, 577–595. https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-24-0071.1

Dougherty, E. M., Tessendorf, S. A., & DeCastro, A. (2025). Historical Warming and Drying in Colorado and Their Impact on Cool-Season Precipitation and Snow. Journal of Hydrometeorology, 26(9), 1261–1273. https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-24-0153.1

Jackson, R., O’Brien, J., Grover, M., et al. (2025). Surface Quantitative Precipitation Estimates (SQUIRE) of snow water equivalent from the Surface Atmospheric Integrated Laboratory. Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, e250023. https://doi.org/10.1175/JTECH-D-25-0023.1

Klavans, J. M., DiNezio, P. N., Clement, A. C., Deser, C., Shanahan, T. M., and Cane, M. A. (2025). Human emissions drive recent trends in North Pacific climate variations. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09368-2

Kuo, Y.-N., Lehner, F., Simpson, I. R., et al. (2025). Recent southwestern US drought exacerbated by anthropogenic aerosols and tropical ocean warming. Nature Geoscience, 18(7), 578–585. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-025-01728-x

Luna-Niño, R., Gershunov, A., Ralph, F. M., et al. (2025). Heresy in ENSO teleconnections: Atmospheric rivers as disruptors of canonical seasonal precipitation anomalies in the Southwestern US. Climate Dynamics, 63(2), 115. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-025-07583-1

Mondal, S., and Vivoni, E. R. (2025). Hot Drought of Summer 2023 in Southwestern North America. Geophysical Research Letters, 52(18), e2025GL118308. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL118308

Moore, B. J., Mahoney, K. M., and Abel, M. (2025). Extreme Wet Spells in the Upper Colorado River Basin during the Cool Season. Journal of Hydrometeorology, 26(7), 951–973. https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-24-0125.1

Pye, M. J., and Pu, Z. (2025). The Synoptic-Scale Circulation during the Western U.S. Drought of 2021 and 2022. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, 64(8), 1001–1015. https://doi.org/10.1175/JAMC-D-24-0059.1

Rudisill, W., Feldman, D., Cox, C. J., Riihimaki, L., and Sedlar, J. (2025). Seasonality and Albedo Dependence of Cloud Radiative Forcing in the Upper Colorado River Basin. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 130(6), e2024JD042366. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024JD042366

Rugg, A., McCrary, R., Rhoades, A., Yates, D., Abel, M., and Devineni, N. (2025). Climate models show Colorado drying sooner and with greater certainty east of the Continental Divide. Environmental Research Communications, 7(9), 091009. https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/ae05f6

Sengupta, A., Waliser, D. E., DeFlorio, M. J., et al. (2025). Role of evolving sea surface temperature modes of variability in improving seasonal precipitation forecasts. Communications Earth & Environment, 6(1), 256. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02235-y

Tezcan, B., and Garcia, M. (2025). Training a hidden Markov model with PMDI and temperature to create climate informed scenarios. Frontiers in Water, 7, 1472695. https://doi.org/10.3389/frwa.2025.1472695

Todd, V. L., Shanahan, T. M., DiNezio, P. N., et al. (2025). North Pacific ocean–atmosphere responses to Holocene and future warming drive Southwest US drought. Nature Geoscience, 18(7), 646–652. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-025-01726-z

Wang, Y., Geerts, B., Liu, C., and Jing, X. (2025). A Convection-Permitting Regional Climate Simulation of Changes in Precipitation and Snowpack in a Warmer Climate over the Interior Western United States. Climate, 13(3), 46. https://doi.org/10.3390/cli13030046

Woodhouse, C. A., Crimmins, M. A., and Meko, M. D. (2025). The Role of Seasonal Precipitation Sequences in Shaping the Climate of the United States Southwest. International Journal of Climatology, 45(15), e70138. https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.70138

Yue, H., Mascaro, G., Wang, Z., and Vivoni, E. R. (2025). Hydrometeorological Forecast Skill of the North American Multimodel Ensemble in the Upper Colorado River Basin. Journal of Hydrometeorology, 26(7), 933–949. https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-24-0087.1

Hydrology and water availability

Abdelmohsen, K., Famiglietti, J. S., Ao, Y. Z., Mohajer, B., and Chandanpurkar, H. A. (2025). Declining Freshwater Availability in the Colorado River Basin Threatens Sustainability of Its Critical Groundwater Supplies. Geophysical Research Letters, 52(10). https://doi.org/10.1029/2025gl115593

Abud-Russell, Y. R., Hatch-Kuri, G., Lara, M. D. C. C., and Aguilar-Castillo, T. (2025). Environmental evidence of surface manifestations of regional groundwater flows in the lower Colorado River Basin: The case Mexicali Valley, Mexico. Groundwater for Sustainable Development, 31, 101510. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gsd.2025.101510

Akkala, A., Boubrahimi, S. F., Hamdi, S. M., Hosseinzadeh, P., and Nassar, A. (2025). Spatio-Temporal Graph Neural Networks for Streamflow Prediction in the Upper Colorado Basin. Hydrology, 12(3), 60. https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology12030060

Ban, Z., Udall, B., and Lettenmaier, D. P. (2025). Decelerating Response of Western US Runoff to Shrinking Snowpacks. Geophysical Research Letters, 52(9), e2025GL114629. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL114629

Brooks, P. D., Solomon, D. K., Kampf, S., et al. (2025). Groundwater dominates snowmelt runoff and controls streamflow efficiency in the western United States. Communications Earth & Environment, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02303-3

Broxton, P. D., Biederman, J. A., Dwivedi, R., et al. (2025). Forest Patch Geometry and Climate Regulate the Impact of Forest Thinning on Snowpack in the Southwest United States. Ecohydrology, 18(6), e70111. https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.70111

Day, N. K., Longley, P. C., Wise, D. R., and McDonnell, M. (2025). Effects of climate on temporal variability in streamflow and salinity in the Upper Colorado River Basin. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, 61, 102672. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2025.102672

Doskocil, L. G., Fassnacht, S. R., Barnard, D. M., Pfohl, A. K. D., Derry, J. E., and Sanford, W. E. (2025). Twin-Peaks Streamflow Timing: Can We Use Forest and Alpine Snow Melt-Out Response to Estimate? Water, 17(13), 2017. https://doi.org/10.3390/w17132017

Elkouk, A., Pokhrel, Y., Luo, L., Payton, E., and Livneh, B. (2025). Modeling the Effects of Aridification on Hydrologic Fluxes and Reservoir Dynamics in the U.S. Southwest. Earth’s Future, 13(9), e2025EF006372. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025EF006372

Fassnacht, S. R., and Pfohl, A. K. D. (2025). Snowmelt Streamflow Trends over Colorado (U.S.A.) Mountain Watersheds. Climate, 13(9), 177. https://doi.org/10.3390/cli13090177

Herbert, J. N., Raleigh, M. S., and Small, E. E. (2025). Using a Random Forest Model to Combine Airborne Lidar and Snotel Data for Daily Estimates of Snow Depth Across Mountain Drainage Basins of Colorado. Water Resources Research, 61(8), e2024WR039775. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024WR039775

Johnson, K., Williams, K. H., Christensen, J. N., et al. (2025). Hidden Features: How Subsurface and Landscape Heterogeneity Govern Hydrologic Connectivity and Stream Chemistry in a Montane Watershed. Hydrological Processes, 39(3), e70085. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.70085

Khorrami, M., Werth, S., Zehsaz, S., and Shirzaei, M. (2025). Drought-induced changes in groundwater-surface water exchange at Lake Mead area. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, 62, 102996. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2025.102996

Koshkin, A., Marshall, A. M., and Rittger, K. (2025). Impact of current and warmer climate conditions on snow cover loss in burned forests. Science Advances, 11(38), eadt9866. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adt9866

Lai, Y., Choi, B., and Roy, S. B. (2025). Bayesian inference of historical streamflow changes suggests further stress in the Colorado River Basin. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, 61, 102619. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2025.102619

Li, W., Maharjan, S., Fisher, J. B., Piechota, T., and El‐Askary, H. (2025). Escalating Hydrological Extremes and Whiplashes in the Western U.S.: Challenges for Water Management and Frontline Communities. Earth’s Future, 13(5), e2024EF005447. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024EF005447

Li, Y., Jamil, R., and VanLooy, J. (2025). Accelerated Glacier Thinning and Area Loss in the Wind River Range, Wyoming (1968–2019): Climate and Topographic Drivers. Remote Sensing, 17(5), 916. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17050916

Li, Z., Sahotra, H., Ahmad, S., et al. (2025). A Distributed Machine Learning Model for Blue and Green Water Resources With Transferable Applications in Similar Climatic Zones. Water Resources Research, 61(5), e2024WR039169. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024WR039169

Naple, P., Skiles, S. M., Lang, O. I., et al. (2025). Dust on Snow Radiative Forcing and Contribution to Melt in the Colorado River Basin. Geophysical Research Letters, 52(5), e2024GL112757. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL112757

Norris, J., Rahimi, S., Huang, L., Bass, B., Thackeray, C. W., and Hall, A. (2025). Uncertainty of 21st Century western U.S. snowfall loss derived from regional climate model large ensemble. Npj Climate and Atmospheric Science, 8(1), 134. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-025-01002-2

Puente, P., Rajagopalan, B., and Condon, L. E. (2025). Understanding the temporal variability and predictability of streamflow signatures in the Colorado River Basin. Journal of Hydrology, 648, 132386. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2024.132386

Raleigh, M. S., Small, E. E., Bair, E. H., Wobus, C., and Rittger, K. (2025). Snow monitoring at strategic locations improves water supply forecasting more than basin-wide mapping. Communications Earth & Environment, 6(1), 665. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02660-z

Ratterman, C., Zhang, W., Affram, G., & Bean, B. (2025). Improving CFSv2 Snow Water Equivalent Forecasts in the Colorado River Basin with Generalized Analog Regression Downscaling. Weather and Forecasting. https://doi.org/10.1175/WAF-D-23-0196.1

Reynolds, R. L., Goldstein, H. L., Kokaly, R., et al. (2025). Light Absorbing Particles Deposited to Snow Cover Across the Upper Colorado River Basin, Colorado, 2013–2016: Interannual Variations From Multiple Natural and Anthropogenic Sources. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 130(2), e2024JD041676. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024JD041676

Salehabadi, H., Tarboton, D. G., Wheeler, K., Prairie, J., Smith, R., and Baker, S. (2025). Developing Storylines of Plausible Future Streamflow and Generating a New Warming‐Driven Declining Streamflow Ensemble: Colorado River Case Study. Water Resources Research, 61(1), e2024WR038618. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024WR038618

Scanlon, B. R., Pool, D. R., Rateb, A., Conway, B., Sorensen, K., Udall, B., and Reedy, R. C. (2025). Multidecadal drought impacts on the Lower Colorado Basin with implications for future management. Communications Earth & Environment, 6(1), 214. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02149-9

Schwat, E., Hogan, D., Paw U, K. T., et al. (2025). Estimating snow sublimation in complex terrain: a season of intensive field measurements and the role of vertical water vapor flux divergence. Journal of Hydrometeorology, 26(10), 1455-1473. https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-25-0022.1

Tatum, J., Sankey, T. T., Belmonte, A., Dymond, S. F., and Woolley, T. (2025). Five Years of Hourly Soil Water Potential Monitoring Demonstrates Forest Thinning Benefits in the North American Southwest. Ecohydrology, 18(6), e70104. https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.70104

Thiros, N. E., Woodburn, E. R., Gardner, W. P., Dennedy-Frank, J. P., & Williams, K. H. (2025). Matrix Diffusion Controls Mountain Hillslope Groundwater Ages and Inferred Storage Dynamics. Groundwater. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwat.13475

Tillman, F. D., Masbruch, M. D., Knight, J. E., et al. (2025). Hydrologic response of groundwater and streamflow to natural and anthropogenic drivers of change in headwaters of the upper Colorado River basin during recent wet (1982–1999) and drought (2000–2022) conditions. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, 60, 102554. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2025.102554

Wang, B., Bass, B., Hall, A., Rahimi, S., and Huang, L. (2025). Disentangling climate and policy uncertainties for the Colorado River post-2026 operations. Nature Communications, 16(1), 8625. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-63635-4 Link to GCM data (CMIP6-WRF) used in paper

Wang, L., Babey, T., Perzan, Z., Pierce, S., Briggs, M., Boye, K., and Maher, K. (2025). Quantifying Groundwater Response and Uncertainty in Beaver-Influenced Mountainous Floodplains Using Machine Learning-Based Model Calibration. Water Resources Research, 61(9), e2024WR039192. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024WR039192

Wang, L., Xu, Z., Wang, C., et al. (2025). The Role of Snowmelt and Subsurface Heterogeneity in Headwater Hydrology of a Mountainous Catchment in Colorado: A Model-Data Integration Approach. Water Resources Research, 61(10), e2025WR040651. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025WR040651

Wolf, M. A., Jamison, L., Strong, C., and Brooks, P. D. (2025). Periodic Variability in Baseflow in Headwater Streams of the Upper Colorado River: Implications for Runoff Efficiency. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 61(2), e70017. https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.70017

Yue, H., Wang, Y., Zhang, L., and Yang, T. (2025). A Machine Learning-Based Water Supply Forecasting Model to Quantify the Impact of Snow Water Equivalent on Seasonal Streamflow Variability Over the Western U.S. Journal of Hydrology, 660, 133465. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.133465

Zanewich, K. P., and Rood, S. B. (2025). Regional Differences in High Elevation Snowpack Decline Along the North American Rocky Mountains. Hydrological Processes, 39(5), e70153. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.70153

Water management, planning, and policy

Colby, B., Hansen, K., and Sorensen, K. (2025). Policy Note: Tough Tradeoffs in the Colorado River Basin. Water Economics and Policy. https://doi.org/10.1142/S2382624X24710024

Colorado River Research Group. (2025). Colorado River Insights, 2025: Dancing with Deadpool. (64 pp.) Getches-Wilkinson Center, University of Colorado Boulder. https://www.colorado.edu/center/gwc/ColoradoRiverInsights2025DancingWithDeadpool

Fernandes, S., Fernandes, G. W., Pereira, C. C., Raty, J., and Wheeler, K. (2025). Reimagining river governance: Insights from the Colorado river crisis. BioScience, biaf037. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biaf037

Hovis, M., Gerlak, A. K., Heikkila, T., et al. (2025). Illuminating the collective learning continuum in the Colorado River Basin Science-Policy Forums. Environmental Policy and Governance, 35(1), 26–47. https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.2125

Kuhn, E., Tara, K. H., and Fleck, J. (2025). A Horse Named “Stream Depletion Theory”: The History and Negotiation of the Upper Colorado River Basin Compact. Natural Resources Journal, 65(1), 69–122.

Reclamation. (2025). Alternatives Report: Post-2026 Operational Guidelines and Strategies for Lake Powell and Lake Mead (46 pp.). Bureau of Reclamation Upper and Lower Colorado Basin Regions. https://www.usbr.gov/ColoradoRiverBasin/documents/post2026/alternatives/Post-2026_Alternatives_Report_20250117_508.pdf

Robison, J. A. (2025). Relational River: Arizona v. Navajo Nation & the Colorado. UCLA Law Review, 72, 87. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4732273

Schmidt, J., Castle, A., Fleck, J., Kuhn, E., Sorensen, K., and Tara, K. (2025). Analysis of Colorado River Basin Storage Suggests Need For Immediate Action (13 pp.). Getches-Wilkinson Center, University of Colorado Boulder. https://www.colorado.edu/center/gwc/media/670

Singhal, A., Szinai, J. K., Yates, D., and Jones, A. D. (2025). Evaluating How Climate Adaptation Measures Affect the Interconnected Water‐Energy Resource Systems of the Western United States. Earth’s Future, 13(7), e2025EF006072. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025EF006072

Sorensen, K., Porter, S., Kuhn, E., and Campbell, C. (2025). Enduring Solutions on the Colorado River Part II: Floating Pools and Grand Bargains (13 pp.). Kyl Center for Water Policy, Arizona State University. https://issuu.com/asuwattscollege/docs/floating_pools_grand_bargains

Wang, B., Bass, B., Hall, A., Rahimi, S., and Huang, L. (2025). Disentangling climate and policy uncertainties for the Colorado River post-2026 operations. Nature Communications, 16(1), 8625. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-63635-4

Womble, P., Gorelick, S. M., Thompson, B. H., and Hernandez-Suarez, J. S. (2025). A strategic environmental water rights market for Colorado River reallocation. Nature Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-025-01585-x

Water use

Silber-Coats, N., Elias, E., Fernald, K., & Gagliardi, M. (2025). Evaluating alternative crops as a solution to water stress in the U.S. Southwest. Agricultural Water Management, 312, 109439. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109439

Water quality and sediment

Arienzo, M. M., Gleason, K. E., Sexstone, G. A., et al. (2025). Latitudinal gradients of snow contamination in the Rocky Mountains associated with anthropogenic sources. Environmental Pollution, 373, 126094. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2025.126094

Carey, C., Deemer, B., Gibney, N., et al. (2025). Assessing risk for enhanced cyanobacteria, phytoplankton, and pathogens with changes in water level regime with potential application to Lake Powell and Lake Mead: A mixed methods literature review. National Park Service. https://doi.org/10.36967/2307521

Day, N. K., Longley, P. C., Wise, D. R., and McDonnell, M. (2025). Effects of climate on temporal variability in streamflow and salinity in the Upper Colorado River Basin. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, 61, 102672. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2025.102672

Deemer, B. R., Andrews, C. M., Reibold, R. H., et al. (2025). Low water levels interact with reservoir aging to increase the severity of summertime metalimnion dissolved oxygen minima in Lake Powell, desert Southwest USA. Inland Waters, 1–46. https://doi.org/10.1080/20442041.2025.2476309

Graves, B. P., Ralph, T. J., and Morgan, A. M. (2025). Channel breakdown and avulsion in arroyos feeding the Little Colorado River, Arizona, USA. Geomorphology, 468, 109501. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2024.109501

Holmes, R., Kroepsch, A., and Singha, K. (2025). River Communities, Disaster Science, and the Politics of Water Safety: Understanding Water Quality Debates in the Aftermath of the Gold King Mine Spill. Environmental Communication, 19(2), 294–310. https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2024.2390064

King, T. V., Bean, R. A., Walton‐Day, K., et al. (2025). Remote Sensing of Chlorophyll-a and Temperature to Support Algal Bloom Monitoring in Blue Mesa Reservoir, Colorado. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 61(4), e70038. https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.70038

Mahmoud, M. F., Arabi, M., and Pallickara, S. (2025). Harnessing ensemble Machine learning models for improved salinity prediction in large river basin scales. Journal of Hydrology, 652, 132691. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.132691

McCleskey, R. B., Cravotta, C. A., Miller, M. P., et al. (2025). Specific conductance and water type as a proxy model for salinity and total dissolved solids measurements in the Upper Colorado River Basin. Applied Geochemistry, 184, 106358. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2025.106358

Newman, C. P., Cowie, R., Wilkin, R. T., and Navarre-Sitchler, A. (2025). Tracing metal sources and groundwater flow paths in the Upper Animas River watershed using rare earth elements and stable isotopes. Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis, 25(1), geochem2024-023. https://doi.org/10.1144/geochem2024-023

Slosson, J. R., Larsen, I. J., Winnick, M. J., Marmolejo‐Cossío, J. M., and Williams, K. H. (2025). Linking Surface Processes, Solute Generation, and CO2 Budgets Across Lithological and Land Cover Gradients in Rocky Mountain Watersheds. Water Resources Research, 61(4), e2023WR036850. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023WR036850

Van Der Nagel, C., Clements, E., Wilkerson, C., Hannoun, D., and Tietjen, T. (2025). Impact of drought on de facto reuse and water quality in Lake Mead: Insights from hydrodynamic modeling versus machine learning. Environmental Modelling & Software, 193, 106649. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2025.106649

Ecosystems and environment

Berkelhammer, M., Page, G. F. M., Zurek, F., et al. (2025). Canopy structure modulates the sensitivity of subalpine forest stands to interannual snowpack and precipitation variability. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 29(3), 701–718. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-701-2025

Bruckerhoff, L. A., Yackulic, C. B., Eppehimer, D. E., Bestgen, K. R., Jones, M. T., and Michaud, C. (2025). Estimating drivers and identifying uncertainties in smallmouth bass population dynamics in an invaded river network. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 82, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2024-0183

Butterfield, B. J., and Palmquist, E. C. (2025). Daily Fluctuating Flows Affect Riparian Plant Species Distributions From Local to Regional Scales. Applied Vegetation Science, 28(3), e70033. https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.70033

Cooper, D. J., Schweiger, E. W., Shaw, J. R., et al. (2025). Rapid riparian ecosystem decline in Rocky Mountain National Park. Conservation Biology, e70053. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.70053

Enriquez, A., Bagstad, K., Dahm, K., Torregrosa, A., and Schuster, R. (2025). Scoping decision-maker needs and science availability to support regional natural capital accounting in the U.S. Colorado River Basin. One Ecosystem, 10, e147848. https://doi.org/10.3897/oneeco.10.e147848

Eppehimer, D. E., Yackulic, C. B., Bruckerhoff, L. A., et al. (2025). Declining reservoir elevations following a two-decade drought increase water temperatures and non-native fish passage facilitating a downstream invasion. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 82, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2024-0187

Hedden, S. C., Albrecht, B., Rogers, R. J., et al. (2025). Do conservation actions improve native fish populations? Differences between managed and unmanaged reaches of a desert river give insight. North American Journal of Fisheries Management, vqaf002. https://doi.org/10.1093/najfmt/vqaf002

Moorhead, L. C., Pennino, M. J., Sabo, R. D., and LeDuc, S. D. (2025). Fire Retardants Are an Overlooked Source of Phosphorus to Western US Ecosystems. ACS ES&T Water, 5(4), 1620–1627. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestwater.4c00966

Palmquist, E. C., Ogle, K., Butterfield, B. J., et al. (2025). Hotter temperatures alter riparian plant outcomes under regulated river conditions. Ecological Monographs, 95(1), e1645. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecm.1645

Parks, S. A., Coop, J. D., and Davis, K. T. (2025). Intensifying Fire Season Aridity Portends Ongoing Expansion of Severe Wildfire in Western US Forests. Global Change Biology, 31(8), e70429. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70429

Remke, M., Schneider, K., and Korb, J. (2025). Leafing Out: Leaf Area Index as an Indicator for Mountain Forest Recovery Following Mixed-Severity Wildfire in Southwest Colorado. Forests, 16(6), 872. https://doi.org/10.3390/f16060872

Rogowski, D. L., Fonken, D. R., Rogers, R. J., and Albrecht, B. (2025). Consequences of a drying reservoir: Positive or negative effects on riverine fish? Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 154(2), 179–191. https://doi.org/10.1093/tafafs/vnaf004

Roos, C. I., Kaib, J. M., Laluk, N. C., et al. (2025). Tree rings reveal persistent Western Apache (Ndee) fire stewardship and niche construction in the American Southwest. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 122(32), e2509169122. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2509169122

Severson, J. P., Bishop, T. B. B., Knight, A. C., et al. (2025). Mapping ecological states in the upper Colorado River basin: Implications for fire management. Environmental Research: Ecology, 4(3), 035004. https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-664X/adf55f

Van Der Nagel, C., Hannoun, D., and Tietjen, T. (2025). Stable phytoplankton community compositions in Lake Mead (Nevada-Arizona, USA) during two decades of severe drought. Environmental Science and Ecotechnology, 23, 100491. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ese.2024.100491

Societal and economic issues

Avila, P., Nemati, M., Crespo, D., Dinar, A., Frankel, Z., and Halberg, N. (2025). Public Spending and Water Scarcity: An Empirical Analysis of USBR Investments in the Colorado River Basin. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 61(5), e70042. https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.70042

Bahrami, S., Rouhi Rad, M., and Nayga Jr., R. M. (2025). Dollars for Drops: Abatement Cost of Water for Irrigation in the Colorado River Basin. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.70026

Cohen, M., and Halama, K. (2025). Breathing Hazard: Air Pollution in the Salton Sea Region. Pacific Institute. https://pacinst.org/publication/breathing-hazard/

Crespo, D., Nemati, M., Dinar, A., Frankel, Z., and Halberg, N. (2025). Assessing the economic value of water in the Colorado River Basin: A hydroeconomic analysis. Water Resources and Economics, 52, 100266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wre.2025.100266

Jones, B. A., Wang, J., and Fleck, J. (2025). Sending Agricultural Water to The Salton Sea to Improve Public Health? An Integrated Agri-Hydro-Health Economic Analysis. Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists. https://doi.org/10.1086/737530

Zhong, Q., Tong, D., Crosson, C., Zhang, Y., and Bhushan, R. (2025). Optimizing Investments in Alternative Water Infrastructure for Urban Food Production in Water Stressed Cities. Water Resources Research, 61(2), e2024WR039025. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024WR03902

2024

Weather and climate

Bolinger, R. A., Lukas, J. J., Schumacher, R. S., and Goble, P. E. (2024). Climate Change in Colorado, 3rd edition. Colorado State University, https://doi.org/10.25675/10217/237323

Cox, C. J., Intrieri, J. M., Butterworth, B., et al. (2024). Observations of surface energy fluxes and meteorology in the seasonally snow-covered high-elevation East River Watershed during SPLASH, 2021–2023. https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2024-158

Dhital, S., Webb, N. P., Chappell, A., et al. (2024). Synoptic Analysis and WRF-Chem Model Simulation of Dust Events in the Southwestern United States. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 129(13), e2023JD040650. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023JD040650

Heflin, S., Abel, M., Biswas, S., et al. (2024). X-Band Radar and Surface-Based Observations of Cold-Season Precipitation in Western Colorado’s Complex Terrain. Journal of Hydrometeorology, 25(10), 1501–1523. https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-23-0147.1

Hogan, D., and Lundquist, J. D. (2024). Recent Upper Colorado River Streamflow Declines Driven by Loss of Spring Precipitation. Geophysical Research Letters, 51(16), e2024GL109826. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL109826

Horel, J. D., and Powell, J. T. (2024). Analysis and Prediction of Summer Rainfall over Southwestern Utah. Weather and Forecasting, 39(7), 1007–1021. https://doi.org/10.1175/WAF-D-24-0018.1

Johnson, Z. F., Stuivenvolt-Allen, J., Mahan, H., and Meyer, J. D. D. (2024). Upper Colorado River Streamﬂow Dependencies on Summertime Synoptic Circulations and Hydroclimate Variability. J. Hydrometeorology, 25(2), 277–292. https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-23-0053.1

Kim, T., and Villarini, G. (2024). Projected changes in daily precipitation, temperature and wet-bulb temperature across Arizona using statistically downscaled CMIP6 climate models. International Journal of Climatology, 44(6), 1994–2010. https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.8436

King, K. E., Cook, E. R., Anchukaitis, K. J., et al. (2024). Increasing prevalence of hot drought across western North America since the 16th century. Science Advances, 10(4), eadj4289. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adj4289

LaPlante, M. D., Deng, L., Dalanhese, L., and Wang, S.-Y. (2024). Ocean Temperatures Do Not Account for a Record-Setting Winter in the U.S. West. Atmosphere, 15(3), 284. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos15030284

Lawrence, D., Tercek, M., Runyon, A., and Wright, J. (2024). Historical and projected climate change for Grand Canyon National Park and surrounding areas. National Park Service. https://doi.org/10.36967/2301726

Lehner, F. (2024). Climate model large ensembles as test beds for applied compound event research. iScience, 27(11), 111113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2024.111113

Salamanca-Palou, F., Svoma, B., Walter, J., et al. (2024). Modeling Salt-Verde Watershed Winter Precipitation Using Convection-Permitting WRF-Simulations With Water Vapor Tracers. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 129(12), e2024JD041029. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024JD041029

Simpson, I. R., McKinnon, K. A., Kennedy, D., et al. (2024). Observed humidity trends in dry regions contradict climate models. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121(1), e2302480120. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2302480120

Wallace, B., and Minder, J. R. (2024). The North American Monsoon precipitation response to climate warming at convection-permitting scales. Climate Dynamics, 62(1), 497–524. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-023-06920-6

Zhuang, Y., Fu, R., Lisonbee, J., et al. (2024). Anthropogenic warming has ushered in an era of temperature-dominated droughts in the western United States. Science Advances, 10(45), eadn9389, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adn9389

Hydrology and water availability

Babey, T., Perzan, Z., Pierce, S., et al. (2024). Mountainous Floodplain Connectivity in Response to Hydrological Transitions. Water Resources Research, 60(7), e2024WR037162. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024WR037162

Carroll, R. W. H., Niswonger, R. G., Ulrich, C., et al. (2024). Declining groundwater storage expected to amplify mountain streamflow reductions in a warmer world. Nature Water, 2(5), 419–433. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-024-00239-0

Cederstrom, C. J., Vivoni, E. R., Mascaro, G., and Svoma, B. (2024). Forest Treatment Effects on Watershed Responses Under Warming. Water Resources Research, 60(6), e2023WR035627. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023WR035627

Dwivedi, R., Biederman, J. A., Broxton, P. D., et al. (2024). How three-dimensional forest structure regulates the amount and timing of snowmelt across a climatic gradient of snow persistence. Frontiers in Water, 6, 1374961. https://doi.org/10.3389/frwa.2024.1374961

Gan, Y., Zhang, Y., Kongoli, C., and Pan, M. (2024). The Role of Forcing and Parameterization in Improving Snow Simulation in the Upper Colorado River Basin Using the National Water Model. Water Resources Research, 60(8), e2023WR035303. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023WR035303

Gold, D. F., Gupta, R. S., and Reed, P. M. (2024). Exploring the Spatially Compounding Multi-Sectoral Drought Vulnerabilities in Colorado’s West Slope River Basins. Earth’s Future, 12(11), e2024EF004841. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024EF004841

Hoerling, M. P., Eischeid, J. K., Diaz, H. F., Rajagopolan, B., and Kuhn, E. (2024). Critical Effects of Precipitation on Future Colorado River Flow. Journal of Climate. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-23-0617.1

Hogan, D., and Lundquist, J. D. (2024). Recent Upper Colorado River Streamflow Declines Driven by Loss of Spring Precipitation. Geophysical Research Letters, 51(16), e2024GL109826. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL109826

Johnson, Z. F., Stuivenvolt-Allen, J., Mahan, H., and Meyer, J. D. D. (2024). Upper Colorado River Streamﬂow Dependencies on Summertime Synoptic Circulations and Hydroclimate Variability. J. Hydrometeorology, 25(2), 277–292. https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-23-0053.1

Lundquist, J. D., Vano, J., Gutmann, E., et al. (2024). Sublimation of Snow. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-23-0191.1

McCabe, G. J., Wolock, D. M., & Gangopadhyay, S. (2024). Past and Projected Future Droughts in the Upper Colorado River Basin. Geophysical Research Letters, 51(5), e2023GL107978. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL107978

Palmquist, E. C., Deemer, B. R., Metcalfe, A. N., et al. (2024). eZ flow metrics: Using z-scores to estimate deviations from natural flow in the Colorado River below Glen Canyon Dam. River Research and Applications. https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.4360

Pokharel, B., Jagannathan, K. A., Wang, S. ‐Y. S., et al. (2024). Can we rely on drought‐ending “miracles” in the Colorado River Basin? JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 1752-1688.13204. https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.13204

Salehabadi, H., Tarboton, D. G., Wheeler, K. G., Smith, R., and Baker, S. (2024). Quantifying and Classifying Streamflow Ensembles Using a Broad Range of Metrics for an Evidence‐Based Analysis: Colorado River Case Study. Water Resources Research, 60(7), e2024WR037225. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024WR037225

Schulz, E. Y., Morrison, R. R., Bailey, R. T., et al. (2024). River corridor beads are important areas of floodplain-groundwater exchange within the Colorado River headwaters watershed. Hydrological Processes, 38(9), e15282. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.15282

Sprenger, M., Carroll, R. W. H., Marchetti, D., et al. (2024). Stream water sourcing from high-elevation snowpack inferred from stable isotopes of water: A novel application of d-excess values. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 28(7), 1711–1723. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-1711-2024

Thiros, N. E., Siirila-Woodburn, E. R., Sprenger, M., et al. (2024). Old-aged groundwater contributes to mountain hillslope hydrologic dynamics. Journal of Hydrology, 635, 131193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2024.131193

Thota, S., Nassar, A., Filali Boubrahimi, S., Hamdi, S. M., and Hosseinzadeh, P. (2024). Enhancing Monthly Streamflow Prediction Using Meteorological Factors and Machine Learning Models in the Upper Colorado River Basin. Hydrology, 11(5), 66. https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology11050066

Vano, J., Petach, T., Deems, J., et al. (2024). A Collaborative, In Situ Mountain Hydrology NASA Test Bed. Prepared for the NASA Terrestrial Hydrology Program. Aspen Global Change Institute. https://doi.org/10.69925/VCBQ9771

Wang, Z., Vivoni, E. R., Whitney, K. M., Xiao, M., & Mascaro, G. (2024). On the Sensitivity of Future Hydrology in the Colorado River to the Selection of the Precipitation Partitioning Method. Water Resources Research, 60(6), e2023WR035801. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023WR035801

Wilson, D. C. (2024). Geomorphic features of Lake Havasu with impacts on its water resource capacity. Lake and Reservoir Management, 40(1), 93–108. https://doi.org/10.1080/10402381.2023.2286659

Woodson, D., Rajagopalan, B., and Zagona, E. (2024). Long-Lead Forecasting of Runoff Season Flows in the Colorado River Basin Using a Random Forest Approach. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 150(4), 04024005. https://doi.org/10.1061/JWRMD5.WRENG-6167

Water management, planning, and policy

Bonham, N., Kasprzyk, J., Zagona, E., and Smith, R. (2024). Interactive and Multimetric Robustness Tradeoffs in the Colorado River Basin. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 150(3), 05023025. https://doi.org/10.1061/JWRMD5.WRENG-6199

Bonham, N., Kasprzyk, J., Zagona, E., and Rajagopalan, B. (2024). Subsampling and space-filling metrics to test ensemble size for robustness analysis with a demonstration in the Colorado River Basin. Environmental Modelling & Software, 172, 105933. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2023.105933

Colorado River Research Group. (2024). Active and Passive Water Saving Mechanisms on the Colorado River: Challenges and Opportunities. 4 pp. https://www.colorado.edu/center/gwc/media/527

Debaere, P., Li, T., Fox, S., et al. (2024). Closing Loopholes in Water Rights Systems to Save Water: The Colorado River Basin. Water Resources Research, 60(8), e2023WR036667. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023WR036667

Hadjimichael, A., Reed, P., Quinn, J., Vernon, C., & Thurber, T. (2024). Scenario storyline discovery for planning in multi‐actor human‐natural systems confronting change. Earth's Future, 12(9). https://doi.org/10.1029/2023EF004252

Joyce, S. (2024). Tribal water sovereignty: Authorizing Indian water marketing in the Colorado Basin. Stanford Law and Policy Review, 35, 165–181. https://law.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/JOYCE-FINAL.pdf

Kuhn, E. (2024). The Risks and Potential Impacts of a Colorado River Compact Curtailment on Colorado River In-Basin and Transmountain Water Rights Within Colorado. Colorado Environmental Law Journal, 35(2). https://scholar.law.colorado.edu/celj/vol35/iss2/4

Lawless, K. L., Garcia, M., and White, D. D. (2024). Institutional analysis of water governance in the Colorado River Basin, 1922–2022. Frontiers in Water, 6, 1451854. https://doi.org/10.3389/frwa.2024.1451854

Lisk, M. D., Grogan, D. S., Zuidema, S., et al. (2024). Harmonized Database of Western U.S. Water Rights (HarDWR) v.1. Scientific Data, 11(1), 598. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03434-6

Lopez, S. F., Knight, J. E., Tilman, F. D., et al. (2024). Database of surface water diversion sites and daily withdrawals for the Upper Colorado River Basin, 1980–2022. Scientific Data, 11(1), 1266. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-04123-0

Marrinan, E. (2024). One Hundred Years Past, One Hundred Years Forward: The Legacy of the Colorado River Compact. University of Dayton Law Review Vol. 49: No. 2, Article 6. https://ecommons.udayton.edu/udlr/vol49/iss2/6

Perry, D., Swanson, R. K., and Springer, A. E. (2024). Policy deficiencies and contingency plans: Groundwater management implications for baseflow contributions to the Colorado River. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 12, 1444015. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2024.1444015

Schmidt, J. C., and Fleck, J. (2024). It is Time to Expand the Geography of the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program. White Paper No. 9; Future of the Colorado River Project, 4 pp. Utah State University. https://qcnr.usu.edu//coloradoriver/files/news/White-Paper-9.pdf

Seay-Fleming, C., Brown, A., Gerlak, A. K., et al. (2024). Engaging farmers in water governance in the Western United States: Lessons from the Colorado River Basin. Socio-Ecological Practice Research, 6(4), 397–409. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42532-024-00203-y

Slosson, M. (2024). Force Majeure and the Law of the Colorado River: The Confluence of Climate Change, Contracts, and the Constitution. University of Colorado Law Review, 95(3), 709–750. https://scholar.law.colorado.edu/lawreview/vol95/iss3/5

Terando, A., Tucker, A., Runyon, A., et al. (2024). Best Practices for Incorporating Climate Change Science into Department of Interior Analyses, Consultations, and Decision Making. Climate Adaptation Science Centers. https://doi.org/10.21429/HJGJ-J073

Universal Access to Clean Water for Tribal Communities (UACW). (2024). Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act Funding Handbook for Access to Clean Drinking Water by Native American Tribes. https://tribalcleanwater.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/UACW-Funding-Handbook_FINAL_July-2024-1.pdf

Volk, J. M., Huntington, J. L., Melton, F. S., et al. (2024). Assessing the accuracy of OpenET satellite-based evapotranspiration data to support water resource and land management applications. Nature Water, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-023-00181-7

Wahal, A., Mendenhall, E., and Giordano, M. (2024). Water in the West: Analyzing the disconnect between farmers’ and policymakers’ perceptions of Colorado River Basin shortages in Arizona. Journal of Rural Studies, 111, 103398. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2024.103398

Yates, D., Szinai, J. K., and Jones, A. D. (2024). Modeling the Water Systems of the Western US to Support Climate‐Resilient Electricity System Planning. Earth’s Future, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1029/2022EF003220

Water use

Busse, M. M., McKibben, M. A., Stringfellow, W., Dobson, P., and Stokes-Draut, J. R. (2024). Impact of geothermal expansion and lithium extraction in the Salton Sea known geothermal resource area (SS-KGRA) on local water resources. Environmental Research Letters, 19(10), 104011. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad6a73 --- Harris, L. (2024). Farmer response to policy induced water reductions: Evidence from the Colorado River. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 125, 102986. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem.2024.102986

Richter, B. D., Lamsal, G., Marston, L., et al. (2024). New water accounting reveals why the Colorado River no longer reaches the sea. Communications Earth & Environment, 5(1), 134. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01291-0

Ruddell, B. L., and Rushforth, R. (2024). Water productivity is in the eye of the beholder: Benchmarking the multiple values produced by water use in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 28(4), 1089–1106. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-1089-2024

Wobus, C., Nash, C., Culp, P. W., Kelly, M., and Kennedy, K. (2024). Simplified agricultural water use accounting in the Colorado River basin using OpenET. Environmental Research Letters. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad984b

Water quality and sediment

Bouskill, N. J., Newcomer, M., Carroll, R. , et al. (2024). A Tale of Two Catchments: Causality Analysis and Isotope Systematics Reveal Mountainous Watershed Traits That Regulate the Retention and Release of Nitrogen. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 129(3), e2023JG007532. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023JG007532 --- Grams, P. E., Topping, D. J., Salter, G., et al. (2024). Implementation of Controlled Floods for Sediment Management on the Colorado River in Grand Canyon Under Aridification. River Research and Applications, n/a. https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.4374

Griffiths, R.E., Topping, D.J., and Unema, J.A. (2024). Changes in sand storage in the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park from July 2017 through June 2020: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2023–1093, 9 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20231093.

Kemper, J. T., Knox, R., Raffae, M., Schulz, E., Bailey, R., Morrison, R. R., and Wohl, E. (2024). Estimating catchment-scale sediment storage in a large river basin, Colorado River, USA. River Research and Applications, rra.4300. https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.4300

Manning, A. H., Petach, T. N., Runkel, R. L., and McKnight, D. M. (2024). Climate‐Driven Increases in Stream Metal Concentrations in Mineralized Watersheds Throughout the Colorado Rocky Mountains, USA. Water Resources Research, 60, 19. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023WR036062

Miller, O. L., Putman, A. L., Smith, R. A., et al. (2024). Temporal variability in irrigated land and climate influences on salinity loading across the Upper Colorado River Basin, 1986-2017. Environmental Research Letters, 19(2), 024008. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad18dd

Putman, A. L., McIlwain, H. E., Rumsey, C. A., and Marston, T. M. (2024). Low flows from drought and water use reduced total dissolved solids fluxes in the Lower Colorado River Basin between 1976 to 2008. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, 52, 101673. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2024.101673

Ridgway, P., Lane, B., Canham, H., et al. (2024). Wildfire, extreme precipitation and debris flows, oh my! Channel response to compounding disturbances in a mountain stream in the Upper Colorado Basin, USA. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 49(12), 3855–3872. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.5942

Tyree, G. L., Chappell, A., Villarreal, M. L., Dhital, S., Duniway, M. C., Edwards, B. L., Faist, A. M., Nauman, T. W., & Webb, N. P. (2024). Oil and gas development influences potential for dust emission from the Upper Colorado River Basin, USA. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 49(11), 3292–3307. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.5887

Ecosystems and environment

Baniya, A., Goldy, C. J., Ardpairin, J., et al. (2024). Canine Schistosomiasis in the West Coast: Heterobilharzia americana in Two Natural Intermediate Hosts Found in the Colorado River, California. Pathogens, 13(3), 245. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens13030245

Bernard, R. F., and Minckley, T. A. (2024). Flying by the river side: Survey of bat distributions and environmental contexts along a 1000-mile river corridor, Green and Colorado Rivers, USA. Diversity and Distributions, 30(5), e13842. https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.13842

Boyer, J. K., Fonken, D. R., and Rogowski, D. L. (2024). Why new scientific information is important for native fish conservation: A case study from the humpback chub (Gila cypha) in the Grand Canyon, U.S.A. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 34(1), e4075. https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.4075

Butterfield, B. J., and Palmquist, E. C. (2024). Divergent physiological responses of hydric and mesic riparian plant species to a Colorado River experimental flow. Plant Ecology, 225(2), 125-133. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-023-01382-6

Cavallaro, M. C., and Schumann, D. A. (2024). Utility of artificial river reef structures to enhance fish habitat below a hydropeaking dam. River Research and Applications. https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.4365

Fairfax, E., Whipple, A., Wheaton, J. M., et al. (2024). Impacts of beaver dams on riverscape burn severity during megafires in the Rocky Mountain region, western United States. In J. L. Florsheim, A. P. O’Dowd, and A. Chin, Biogeomorphic Responses to Wildfire in Fluvial Ecosystems (pp. 131–151). Geological Society of America. https://doi.org/10.1130/2024.2562(07)

Giardina, M., Korman, J., Yard, M. D., et al. (2024). A literature review and hypsometric analysis to support decisions on trout management flows on the Colorado River downstream from Glen Canyon Dam (Report 2024–1033; Open-File Report, 50 pp.). US Geological Survey. https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20241033

Gilbert, E. I., Diver, T. A., Mussmann, S. M., et al. (2024). Why Is It Too Cold? Towards a Mechanistic Understanding of Cold-Water Pollution Effects on Recruitment of an Imperiled Warmwater Fish. Molecular Ecology, n/a(n/a), e17588. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.17588

González-Sargas, E., Gómez-Sapiens, M., Hinojosa-Huerta, O., et al. (2024). Avian communities respond to plant and landscape composition in actively revegetated floodplains of the Colorado River delta in Mexico. Ecological Engineering, 205, 107266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2024.107266

González-Sargas, E., Meehan, T. D., Hinojosa-Huerta, O., et al. (2024). Bird community response to one decade of riparian restoration along the Colorado River delta in Mexico. Ecological Engineering, 205, 107291. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2024.107291

Grand, J., Meehan, T. D., DeLuca, W. V., Morton, J., Pitt, J., et al., (2024). Strategic restoration planning for land birds in the Colorado River Delta, Mexico. Journal of Environmental Management, 351, 119755. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119755

Hedden, C., Rogowski, D. L., Boyer, J., and Mason-Sarantopulos, L. (2024). Temporal Patterns of Fish Occurrence in the Colorado River, Grand Canyon in Response to Temperature, Largescale Drought, and Newly Exposed Habitat. River Research and Applications. https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.4392

Hodge, B. W., Henderson, R., and Brehme, C. E. (2024). Stream Restoration Effects on Habitat and Abundance of Native Cutthroat Trout. River Research and Applications. https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.4373

Magruder, A. C., Barrile, G. M., Siddons, S., Walrath, J., and Walters, A. W. (2024). Seasonal movements between main stem and tributaries may facilitate the persistence of Roundtail Chub and Flannelmouth Sucker within an altered stream system. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 153(5), 644–659. https://doi.org/10.1002/tafs.10489

Marsh, P. C., Dowling, T. E., Turner, T. F., Osborne, M. J., and Kesner, B. R. (2024). Maturation of an off-channel habitat concept to conserve native fishes in the Lower Colorado River. Monographs of the Western North American Naturalist, 15. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1116andcontext=mwnan

Mussmann, S. M. (2024). Assembly and annotation of a chromosome-level reference genome for the endangered Colorado pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus lucius). G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics, 14(11), jkae217. https://doi.org/10.1093/g3journal/jkae217

Nagler, P. L., Sall, I., Gomez-Sapiens, M., et al. (2024). Greenness and Actual Evapotranspiration in the Unrestored Riparian Corridor of the Colorado River Delta in Response to In-Channel Water Deliveries in 2021 and 2022. Remote Sensing, 16(10), 1801. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs16101801

Nagler, P. L., Sall, I., Gómez‐Sapiens, M. et al. (2024). Effect of water delivery and irrigation for riparian restoration in the Colorado River Delta, Mexico. Restoration Ecology, e14226. https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.14226

Perkins, D. W., Wight, A., Wondzell, M., and Friedman, J. M. (2024). Riparian Vegetated Area in Pre-Dam, Post-Dam, and Environmental Flow Periods in Canyonlands National Park From 1940 to 2022. River Research and Applications. https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.4395

Riepe, T. B., Hooley-Underwood, Z. E., and Johnson, M. (2024). Thermal Tolerance of Larval Flannelmouth Sucker Catostomus latipinnis Acclimated to Three Temperatures. Fishes, 9(5), 181. https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes9050181

Smith, D. M., and Friggens, M. M. (2024). Co-production of a vulnerability assessment for aquatic and riparian ecosystems in the southwestern United States. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 60(6), 1293–1312. https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.13240

Srinivasan, J., Holway, J., and Sabo, J. L. (2024). A framework for river recovery in Anthropocene rivers undergoing regime shift: Application to the Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program. In Resilience and Riverine Landscapes (pp. 519–544). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-91716-2.00018-2

Thaxton, R., Scott, M. L., Kemper, J. T., Rathburn, S. L., Butzke, S., & Friedman, J. M. (2024). Downstream decreases in water availability, tree height, canopy volume and growth rate in cottonwood forests along the Green River, southwestern USA. Ecohydrology, 17(7), e2693. https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.2693

Societal and economic issues

Blevins, S., Hansen, K. M., Paige, G. B., MacKinnon, A., & Bastian, C. T. (2024). Economic Evaluation of Water Management Alternatives in the Upper Green River Basin of Wyoming. Water, 16(12), 1685. https://doi.org/10.3390/w16121685 --- Frisvold, G. B., and Atla, J. (2024). Agricultural Economic Water Productivity Differences across Counties in the Colorado River Basin. Hydrology, 11(8), 125. https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology11080125

Huizar, L., Díaz, S., Lansey, K., and Arnold, R. (2024). Economic Impacts of the 2019 Drought Contingency Plan in the Lower Colorado River Basin: Water, Energy, and Recreation. Journal of Environmental Engineering, 150(4), 04024004. https://doi.org/10.1061/JOEEDU.EEENG-7505

Kaczmarski, J. I., & Jones, B. A. (2024). The marginal generation and emissions impacts of purchased hydropower: Evidence from the Colorado River Storage Project. Energy Economics, 138, 107816. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2024.107816

Srinivasan, J., Holway, J., and Sabo, J. L. (2024). A framework for river recovery in Anthropocene rivers undergoing regime shift: Application to the Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program. In Resilience and Riverine Landscapes (pp. 519–544). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-91716-2.00018-2

2023

Weather and climate

Bass, B., Goldenson, N., Rahimi, S., Hall, A. (2023). Aridification of Colorado River Basin’s Snowpack Regions Has Driven Water Losses Despite Ameliorating Effects of Vegetation. Water Resources Research, 59, e2022WR033454. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022WR033454

Hammond, J. C., Sexstone, G. A., Putman, A. L., et al. (2023). High Resolution SnowModel Simulations Reveal Future Elevation‐Dependent Snow Loss and Earlier, Flashier Surface Water Input for the Upper Colorado River Basin. Earth's Future, 11(2), e2022EF003092. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022EF003092

Kuo, Y., Kim, H., & Lehner, F. (2023). Anthropogenic Aerosols Contribute to the Recent Decline in Precipitation Over the U.S. Southwest. Geophysical Research Letters, 50(23), e2023GL105389. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL105389

McEvoy, D., and Hatchett, B. (2023). Spring Heat Waves Drive Record Western United States Snow Melt in 2021. Environmental Research Letters, 18(1):014007. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aca8bd

Rudisill, W., Flores, A., and Carroll, R. (2023). Evaluating Three Decades of Precipitation in the Upper Colorado River Basin from a High-Resolution Regional Climate Model. Geoscientific Model Development Discussions, 2023, 1-31. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-6531-2023

Stone, L., Strong, C., Bai, H., Reichler, T., McCabe, G., and Brooks, P. D. (2023). Atlantic-Pacific influence on western U.S. hydroclimate and water resources. Npj Climate and Atmospheric Science, 6(1), 139. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-023-00471-7

Whitney, K., Vivoni, E., Bohn, T. et al. (2023). Spatial Attribution of Declining Colorado River Streamflow under Future Warming. Journal of Hydrology, 129125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2023.129125

Xu, Z., Siirila-Woodburn, E. R., Rhoades, A. M., and Feldman, D. (2023). Sensitivities of subgrid-scale physics schemes, meteorological forcing, and topographic radiation in atmosphere-through-bedrock integrated process models: a case study in the Upper Colorado River basin. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 27(9), 1771-1789. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-1771-2023

Hydrology and water availability

de Boer, G., White, A., Cifelli, R., et al. (2023). Supporting advancement in weather and water prediction in the upper Colorado River Basin: The SPLASH campaign. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 104(10), E1853-E1874. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-22-0147.1

Currier, W., Wood, A., Mizukami, N., et al. (2023). Vegetation representation influences projected streamflow changes in the Colorado River Basin. Journal of Hydrometeorology. https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-22-0143.1

Gianniny, G., and Schmidt, J. C. (2023). Dewatered Rivers of the Upper Colorado River Basin. Center for Colorado River Studies. https://www.scribd.com/document/653051819/gianniny-factsheet#

Goble, P. E., and Schumacher, R. S. (2023). On the Sources of Water Supply Forecast Error in Western Colorado. Journal of Hydrometeorology 24(12):2321–32. https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-23-0004.1.

Hadjimichael, A., Yoon, J., Reed, P., et al. (2023). Exploring the Consistency of Water Scarcity Inferences between Large-Scale Hydrologic and Node-Based Water System Model Representations of the Upper Colorado River Basin. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management 149(2):04022081. https://doi.org/10.1061/JWRMD5.WRENG-5522

Heldmyer, A. J., Bjarke, N. R., and Livneh, B. (2023). A 21st‐Century perspective on snow drought in the Upper Colorado River Basin. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 59(2), 396-415. https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.13095

Hosseinzadeh, P., Ayman N., Soukaina F., and Shah M.. (2023). ML-Based Streamflow Prediction in the Upper Colorado River Basin Using Climate Variables Time Series Data. Hydrology 10(2):29. https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology10020029

Lachniet, M. S., Du, X., Dee, S., et al. (2023). Elevated Grand Canyon groundwater recharge during the warm Early Holocene. Nature Geoscience, 16(10), 915–921. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01272-6

Lynker. (2023). Colorado Airborne Snow Measurement Program: Water Year 2022 Streamflow Forecast Review. Report to Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, June 2023, 63 pp. https://coloradoriverscience.org/images/6/6e/CASM_WY22_Streamflow_Forecasting_Review_%28Lynker%29.pdf

Whitney, K., Vivoni, E., Bohn, T. et al. (2023). Spatial Attribution of Declining Colorado River Streamflow under Future Warming. Journal of Hydrology, 129125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2023.129125

Whitney, K. M., Vivoni, E. R., Wang, Z., et al. (2023). A Stakeholder-Engaged Approach to Anticipating Forest Disturbance Impacts in the Colorado River Basin under Climate Change. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 149(7), 04023020. https://doi.org/10.1061/JWRMD5.WRENG-5905

Zhao, S., Fu, R., Anderson, M., et al. (2023). Extended Seasonal Prediction of Spring Precipitation over the Upper Colorado River Basin. Climate Dynamics 60(5):1815–29. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-022-06422-x

Water management, planning, and policy

Craig, R. K. (2023). California Exceptionalism in the Colorado River: A Brief History and Implications for the Future. University of Southern California, USC Law Legal Studies Paper No. 23-8. https://doi:10.2139/ssrn.4420426.

Dahm, K., Hawbaker, T., Frus, R et al. (2023). Colorado River Basin Actionable and Strategic Integrated Science and Technology Project—Science strategy: U.S. Geological Survey (Circular 1502). U.S. Geological Survey. https://doi.org/10.3133/cir1502

Deemer, B. R., Andrews, C. M., Strock, et al. (2023). Over half a century record of limnology data from Lake Powell, desert southwest United States: From reservoir filling to present day (1964–2021). Limnology and Oceanography Letters. https://doi.org/10.1002/lol2.10310

East, A. E., and Grant, G. E. (2023). A watershed moment for western US dams. Water Resources Research, 59(10), e2023WR035646. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023WR035646

Grigg, N. S. (2023). Colorado River Basin: Conflict management under hydrologic stress and institutional gridlock. International Journal of River Basin Management. 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/15715124.2023.2229802

Hannoun, D., and Tietjen, T. (2023). Lake management under severe drought: Lake Mead, Nevada/Arizona. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 59(2), 416–428. https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.13090

Herman-Mercer, N., Bair, L., Hines, et al. (2023). Human factors used to estimate and forecast water supply and demand in the Upper Colorado River Basin (No. 2023-5015). US Geological Survey. https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20235015

MacDonnell, Lawrence J. (2023). The 1922 Colorado River Compact at 100. Western Legal History, 33(1). https://ssrn.com/abstract=4526135

Pflugfelder, E. H., Amidon, T. R., Sackey, D. J., and Richards, D. P. (2023). Expanding the Scope and Scale of Risk in TPC: Water Access and the Colorado River Basin. Technical Communication Quarterly, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/10572252.2023.2210194

Schmidt, J. C., Yackulic, C. B., and Kuhn, E. (2023). The Colorado River water crisis: Its origin and the future. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water, e1672. https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1672

Srinivasan, J., and Schoon, M. (2023). Recovery or continued resuscitation? A clinical diagnosis of Colorado River sub-basin recovery programs. Ecology and Society, 28(1):5. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-13749-280105

Whitney, K. M., Vivoni, E. R., Wang, Z., et al. (2023). A Stakeholder-Engaged Approach to Anticipating Forest Disturbance Impacts in the Colorado River Basin under Climate Change. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 149(7), 04023020. https://doi.org/10.1061/JWRMD5.WRENG-5905

Whitney, K. M., Vivoni, E. R., and White, D. D. (2023). Enhancing the accessibility and interactions of regional hydrologic projections for water managers. Environmental Modelling & Software, 167, 105763. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2023.105763

Water use

Hernández-Cruz, A., Sandoval-Solís, S., Mendoza-Espinosa, L. G., et al. (2023). Assessing Water Management Strategies under Water Scarcity in the Mexican Portion of the Colorado River Basin. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 149(9), https://doi.org/10.1061/JWRMD5.WRENG-5985

McCoy, A., Pitt, J., Keaton Wilson, J. et al. (2023). A Survey of the Bureau of Reclamation’s Decree Accounting Reports in the Lower Colorado River Basin. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management 149(3). https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)WR.1943-5452.0001626

Richter, B. (2023). Decoupling Urban Water Use from Population Growth in the Colorado River Basin. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 149(2), 04022082. https://doi.org/10.1061/JWRMD5.WRENG-5887 [see the Municipal water use page for a link to the study data]

Rubio-Velázquez, J., Loaiciga, H. A., and Lopez-Carr, D. (2023). Human-induced resource scarcity in the Colorado River Basin and Its implications for water supply and the environment in the Mexicali Valley Transboundary Aquifer. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 113(5), 1172-1189. https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2022.2162477

Water quality and sediment

Day, N. (2023). Characterization of streamflow and nutrient occurrence in the upper White River Basin, Colorado, 1980–2020 (No. 2022-5112). U.S. Geological Survey. https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2022/5112/sir20225112.pdf

Adjovu, G. E., Stephen, H., and Ahmad, S. (2023). Spatiotemporal Variability in Total Dissolved Solids and Total Suspended Solids along the Colorado River. Hydrology, 10(6), 125. https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology10060125

Krolczyk, E., and J. C. Schmidt. 2023. Sediment Delivery to Lake Powell and Lake Mead. Center for Colorado River Studies, Utah State University. http://www.riversimulator.org/Resources/Sediment/SedimentDeliveryToLakePowellAndLakeMead2023Krolczyk.pdf

Ecosystems and environment

Healy, B. D., and Omana Smith, E. (2023). Quantifying the contributions of tributaries to large‐river fish populations through mark‐recapture modeling. North American Journal of Fisheries Management, nafm.10971. https://doi.org/10.1002/nafm.10971

Hendrick, M., Zajchowski, C., Rose, J. et al. (2023). Do Rising Flows Lift All Boats? Ecosystem Services Elasticity in the Dolores River Watershed. Human Ecology 51(1):173–83. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-022-00387-5

Kluender, E., and Bestgen, K. (2023). A Small Warm Tributary Provides Prespawning Resources for Colorado Pikeminnow in a Cold Dam-Regulated River. Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management. https://doi.org/10.3996/JFWM-22-025

Nagler, P., Barreto-Muñoz, A., Sall, I. et al. (2023). Riparian Plant Evapotranspiration and Consumptive Use for Selected Areas of the Little Colorado River Watershed on the Navajo Nation. Remote Sensing 15(1):52. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15010052

Srinivasan, J., and Schoon, M. (2023). Recovery or continued resuscitation? A clinical diagnosis of Colorado River sub-basin recovery programs. Ecology and Society, 28(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/15715124.2023.2229802

Jackson, S. K. V., Pilkington, L. H., Berghel, K. M., Chiquoine, L. P., and Abella, S. R. (2023). Seed banks and seed survival of submersion for an emerging plant invader in the Colorado River system, USA. River Research and Applications. https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.4141

St. Andre, N., Roeder, B., and Belk, M. C. (2023). Effects of quagga mussel invasion on trophic niche of fishes in a western USA reservoir: a test for a trophic cascade and corresponding niche shift. Hydrobiologia, 850(1), 109-121. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10750-022-05046-w

Societal and economic issues

Hendrick, M., Zajchowski, C., Rose, J. et al. (2023). Do Rising Flows Lift All Boats? Ecosystem Services Elasticity in the Dolores River Watershed. Human Ecology 51(1):173–83. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-022-00387-5

Richter, B. (2023). Decoupling Urban Water Use from Population Growth in the Colorado River Basin. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 149(2), 04022082. https://doi.org/10.1061/JWRMD5.WRENG-5887 [see the Municipal water use page for a link to the study data]

Rubio-Velázquez, J., Loaiciga, H., and Lopez-Carr, D. (2023). Human-Induced Resource Scarcity in the Colorado River Basin and Its Implications for Water Supply and the Environment in the Mexicali Valley Transboundary Aquifer. Annals of the American Association of Geographers 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2022.2162477

Wescoat Jr., J. L. (2023). Institutional levels of water management in the Colorado River basin region: A macro-historical geographic review. Frontiers in Water, 4, 1024055. https://doi.org/10.3389/frwa.2022.1024055

2022

Weather and climate

Biederman, J. A., Robles, M. D., Scott, R. L., and Knowles, J. F. (2022). Streamflow Response to Wildfire Differs with Season and Elevation in Adjacent Headwaters of the Lower Colorado River Basin. Water Resources Research, 58(3). https://doi.org/10.1029/2021WR030687

Booker, J. F. (2022). Colorado River Water Use and Climate: Model and Application. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association 1752-1688.13035. https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.13035.

Feldman, D. R., Worden, M., Falco, N., et al. (2022). Three‐Dimensional Surface Downwelling Longwave Radiation Clear‐Sky Effects in the Upper Colorado River Basin. Geophysical Research Letters, 49(4). https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL094605

Gangopadhyay, S., Woodhouse, C. A., McCabe, G. J., Routson, C. C., and Meko, D. M. (2022). Tree Rings Reveal Unmatched 2nd Century Drought in the Colorado River Basin. Geophysical Research Letters, 49(11). https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL098781

Hoell, A., Quan, X.-W., Hoerling, M., et al. (2022). Record Low North American Monsoon Rainfall in 2020 Reignites Drought over the American Southwest. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 103(3), S26–S32. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-21-0129.1

McCoy, A. L., Jacobs, K. L., Vano, J. A., et al. (2022). The Press and Pulse of Climate Change: Extreme Events in the Colorado River Basin. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 1752-1688.13021. https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.13021

Pokharel, B., Jagannathan, K. A., Wang, S.-Y. (Simon), et al. [Preprint: Submitted in April 2022, not yet published]. Drought-busting “miracles” in the Colorado River Basin may become less frequent and less powerful under climate warming. Submitted to Water Resources Research. https://doi.org/10.1002/essoar.10511012.1

Salehabadi, H., Tarboton, D. G., Udall, B., Wheeler, K. G., and Schmidt, J. C. (2022). An Assessment of Potential Severe Droughts in the Colorado River Basin. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 1752-1688.13061. https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.13061

Talsma, C. J., Bennett, K. E., and Vesselinov, V. V. (2022). Characterizing Drought Behavior in the Colorado River Basin Using Unsupervised Machine Learning. Earth and Space Science, 9(5). https://doi.org/10.1029/2021EA002086

Towler, E., Woodson, D., Baker, S., et al. (2022). Incorporating Mid-Term Temperature Predictions into Streamflow Forecasts and Operational Reservoir Projections in the Colorado River Basin. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 148(4), 04022007. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)WR.1943-5452.0001534

Wahl, E. R., Zorita, E., Diaz, H. F., and Hoell, A. (2022). Southwestern United States drought of the 21st century presages drier conditions into the future. Communications Earth & Environment, 3(1), 202. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00532-4

Williams, A. P., Cook, B. I., and Smerdon, J. E. (2022). Rapid intensification of the emerging southwestern North American megadrought in 2020–2021. Nature Climate Change, 12(3), 232–234. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01290-z

Zhang, W., Hari, V., S-Y Wang, S., et al. (2022). Fewer Troughs, Not More Ridges, Have Led to a Drying Trend in the Western United States. Geophysical Research Letters, 49(1), e2021GL097089. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL097089

Hydrology and water availability

Bedri, R., and Piechota, T. (2022). Future Colorado River Basin Drought and Surplus. Hydrology, 9(12):227. https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology9120227

Biederman, J. A., Robles, M. D., Scott, R. L., and Knowles, J. F. (2022). Streamflow Response to Wildfire Differs with Season and Elevation in Adjacent Headwaters of the Lower Colorado River Basin. Water Resources Research, 58(3). https://doi.org/10.1029/2021WR030687

Gan, Y., Zhang, Y., Liu, Y., Kongoli, C., and Grassotti, C. (2022). Assimilation of blended in situ-satellite snow water equivalent into the National Water Model for improving hydrologic simulation in two US river basins. Science of The Total Environment, 838, 156567. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156567

Gangopadhyay, S., Woodhouse, C. A., McCabe, G. J., Routson, C. C., and Meko, D. M. (2022). Tree Rings Reveal Unmatched 2nd Century Drought in the Colorado River Basin. Geophysical Research Letters, 49(11). https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL098781

Hull, R., Leonarduzzi, E., De La Fuente, L., Tran, H. V., Bennett, A., Melchior, P., Maxwell, R. M., and Condon, L. E. (2022). Using simulation-based inference to determine the parameters of an integrated hydrologic model: A case study from the upper Colorado River basin. Groundwater hydrology/Modelling approaches. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2022-345

Kampf, S. K., McGrath, D., Sears, M. G., et al. (2022). Increasing wildfire impacts on snowpack in the western U.S. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(39), e2200333119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2200333119

Lin, Y., Takano, Y., Gu, Y., et al. (2022). Investigation of Springtime Cloud Influence on Regional Climate and Its Implication in Runoff Decline in Upper Colorado River Basin. Earth and Space Science, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1029/2021EA002059

McCoy, A. L., Jacobs, K. L., Vano, J. A., et al. (2022). The Press and Pulse of Climate Change: Extreme Events in the Colorado River Basin. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 1752-1688.13021. https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.13021

Meko, D. M., Woodhouse, C. A., and Winitsky, A. G. (2022). Tree‐Ring Perspectives on the Colorado River: Looking Back and Moving Forward. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 1752-1688.12989. https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.12989

Root, J. C., and Jones, D. (2022). Elevation-Area-Capacity Relationships of Lake Powell in 2018 and Estimated Loss of Storage Capacity Since 1963 (Scientific Investigations Report No. 2022–5017; Scientific Investigations Report). https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20225017

Schmidt, J. C., Bruckerhoff, L., Salehabadi, H., & Wang, J. (2022). The Colorado River. Large Rivers: Geomorphology and Management, Second Edition, 253-319. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119412632.ch10

Tillman, F. D., Day, N. K., Miller, M. P., et al. (2022). A Review of Current Capabilities and Science Gaps in Water Supply Data, Modeling, and Trends for Water Availability Assessments in the Upper Colorado River Basin. Water, 14(23), 3813. https://doi.org/10.3390/w14233813

Tran, H., Zhang, J., O’Neill, M. M., et al. (2022). A hydrological simulation dataset of the Upper Colorado River Basin from 1983 to 2019. Scientific Data, 9(1), 16. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01123-w

Wang, Z., and Vivoni, E. R. (2022). Individualized and Combined Effects of Future Urban Growth and Climate Change on Irrigation Water Use in Central Arizona. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association 58(3):370–87. https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.13005.

Williams, A. P., Livneh, B., McKinnon, K. A., et al. (2022). Growing impact of wildfire on western US water supply. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(10), e2114069119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2114069119

Yu, G., Wright, D. B., and Davenport, F. V. (2022). Diverse Physical Processes Drive Upper-Tail Flood Quantiles in the US Mountain West. Geophysical Research Letters, 49(10), e2022GL098855. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL098855

Zhang, W., Hari, V., S-Y Wang, S., et al. (2022). Fewer Troughs, Not More Ridges, Have Led to a Drying Trend in the Western United States. Geophysical Research Letters, 49(1), e2021GL097089. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL097089

Water management, planning, and policy

Baker, S. A., Wood, A. W., Rajagopalan, B., Prairie, J., Jerla, C., Zagona, E., Butler, R. A., amd Smith, R. (2022). The Colorado River Basin Operational Prediction Testbed: A Framework for Evaluating Streamflow Forecasts and Reservoir Operations. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 58(5), 690–708. https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.13038

Bruckerhoff, L. A., Wheeler, K., Dibble, K. L., et al. (2022). Water Storage Decisions and Consumptive Use May Constrain Ecosystem Management under Severe Sustained Drought. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association 58(5):654–72. https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.13020.

Kuhn, E., and Fleck, J. (2022). “The Consequences of the Compact Remains with Us”: Challenges and Opportunities for the Colorado River Upper Basin. Available at SSRN: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4094375

Quay, R., Sternlieb, F., Rauh, E., et al. (2022). Evaluating the effectiveness of land and water integrative practices for achieving water sustainability within the Colorado River Basin: Perceptions and indicators. Water International, 47(2), 257–277. https://doi.org/10.1080/02508060.2022.2041281

Schmidt, J. C., Bruckerhoff, L., Salehabadi, H., and Wang, J. (2022). The Colorado River. In A. Gupta (Ed.), Large Rivers: Geomorphology and Management (2nd ed., pp. 253–319). Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119412632.ch10

Smith, R., Zagona, E., Kasprzyk, J., et al. (2022). Decision Science Can Help Address the Challenges of Long‐Term Planning in the Colorado River Basin. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 1752-1688.12985. https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.12985

Stewart, C. J. (2022). Understanding Utah’s Transbasin Diversions. Colorado River Fundamentals (fact sheet), Center for Colorado River Studies, Utah State University, 9 pp. https://qcnr.usu.edu/coloradoriver/files/news/Tranbasin-Fact-Sheet.pdf

Xiao, Mu, Mascaro G., Wang Z., Whitney, K. M., and Vivoni, E. R. (2022). On the Value of Satellite Remote Sensing to Reduce Uncertainties of Regional Simulations of the Colorado River. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 26(21), 5627–5646. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-5627-2022.

Wheeler, K. G., Udall, B., Wang, J., Kuhn, E., Salehabadi, H., & Schmidt, J. C. (2022). What will it take to stabilize the Colorado River?. Science, 377(6604), 373-375. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abo4452

Water use

Quay, R., Sternlieb, F., Rauh, E., et al. (2022). Evaluating the effectiveness of land and water integrative practices for achieving water sustainability within the Colorado River Basin: Perceptions and indicators. Water International, 47(2), 257–277. https://doi.org/10.1080/02508060.2022.2041281

Stewart, C. J. (2022). Understanding Utah’s Transbasin Diversions. Colorado River Fundamentals (fact sheet), Center for Colorado River Studies, Utah State University, 9 pp. https://qcnr.usu.edu/coloradoriver/files/news/Tranbasin-Fact-Sheet.pdf

Wheeler, K. G., Udall, B., Wang, J., Kuhn, E., Salehabadi, H., & Schmidt, J. C. (2022). What will it take to stabilize the Colorado River?. Science, 377(6604), 373-375. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abo4452

Water quality and sediment

DeHoff, M. (2022). Who is in Charge of the Mud? Natural Resources Journal, 62(2), 325–339.

Kim, S., Kim S., Green, C. H. M., and Jeong, J. (2022). Multivariate Polynomial Regression Modeling of Total Dissolved-Solids in Rangeland Stormwater Runoff in the Colorado River Basin. Environmental Modelling & Software 157:105523. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2022.105523.

Reynolds, R. L., Goldstein, H. L., Kokaly, R. F., and Derry, J. (2022). Microplastic Particles in Dust-on-Snow, Upper Colorado River Basin, Colorado Rocky Mountains, 2013–16. Report. 2022–1061. Reston, VA. https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20221061.

Johnson, C., Root, J. C., Hynek, S. A., and Schmidt, J. C. (2022). Sedimentary record of annual-decadal timescale reservoir dynamics: Anthropogenic stratigraphy of Lake Powell, Utah, U.S.A. The Sedimentary Record, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.2110/sedred.2022.1.3

García‐Hernández, J., Leyva‐García, G., Aguilera‐Márquez, D., Díaz‐Argumedo, R. E., Santiago‐Serrano, E., and Zamora‐Arroyo, F. (2022). Select Water Quality Parameters during Wet and Dry Conditions in the Colorado River Delta. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 1752-1688.13047. https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.13047

Ecosystems and environment

Comte, L., Olden, J. D., Lischka, S., and Dickson, B. G. (2022). Multi-scale threat assessment of riverine ecosystems in the Colorado River Basin. Ecological Indicators, 138, 108840. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2022.108840

Societal and economic issues

Colby, B. G., and Hansen, H. (2022). Colorado Basin Incentive-Based Urban Water Policies: Review and Evaluation. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association 58(6):1098–1115. https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.13041.

Drugova, T., Kynda R. C., and Kim, M. (2022). The Impacts of Drought on Southwest Tribal Economies. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association 58(5):639–53. https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.13018.

Duval, D., Bickel, A. K., and Frisvold, G. B. (2022). Effects of Reservoir Levels on Arizona National Recreation Area Visitation, Visitor Spending, and Local Economies. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association 58(5):622–38. https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.12962.

Hung, F., Son, K., and Yang, Y. C. E. (2022). Investigating uncertainties in human adaptation and their impacts on water scarcity in the Colorado river Basin, United States. Journal of Hydrology, 612, 128015. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2022.128015

Rushforth, R. R., Zegre, N. P., and Ruddell, B. L. (2022). The Three Colorado Rivers: Hydrologic, Infrastructural, and Economic Flows of Water in a Shared River Basin. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 58(2), 269–281. https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.12997

2021

Cross-cutting reports

2021 SECURE Water Act reports:

Gangopadhyay, S., and McGuire, M. (2021). West-Wide Climate and Hydrology Assessment. Technical Memorandum ENV-2021-001, Bureau of Reclamation. 423 pp. https://www.usbr.gov/climate/secure/docs/2021secure/westwidesecurereport1-2.pdf [v1.2 - June 2021]

Reclamation. (2021a). Water Reliability in the West—2021 SECURE Water Act Report. Bureau of Reclamation. 60 pp. https://www.usbr.gov/climate/secure/docs/2021secure/2021SECUREReport.pdf

Reclamation. (2021b). Colorado River Basin—SECURE Water Act Section 9503(c)—Report to Congress. Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Department of Interior. 34 pp. https://www.usbr.gov/climate/secure/docs/2021secure/basinreports/ColoradoBasin.pdf

Eppehimer, D., Fard, E., Kemper, J., et al. (2021). Climate adaptation planning to support ecosystems and people in the Gila River Watershed, Arizona (p. 49). Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center. https://www.swcasc.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/2022-03/NRWD_Final%20Report2021.pdf

Weather and climate

Bennett, K. E., Talsma, C., and Boero, R. (2021). Concurrent Changes in Extreme Hydroclimate Events in the Colorado River Basin. Water, 13(7), 978. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13070978

Brunner, M. I., Swain, D. L., Gilleland, E., and Wood, A. W. (2021). Increasing importance of temperature as a contributor to the spatial extent of streamflow drought. Environmental Research Letters, 16(2), 024038. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abd2f0

Cook, B. I., Mankin, J. S., Williams, A. P., et al. (2021). Uncertainties, Limits, and Benefits of Climate Change Mitigation for Soil Moisture Drought in Southwestern North America. Earth’s Future, 9(9). https://doi.org/10.1029/2021EF002014

Fowler, H. J., Lenderink, G., Prein, A. F., et al. (2021). Anthropogenic intensification of short-duration rainfall extremes. Nature Reviews Earth and Environment, 2(2), 107–122. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-020-00128-6

Huang, H., Patricola, C. M., Bercos‐Hickey, E., et al. (2021). Sources of Subseasonal‐To‐Seasonal Predictability of Atmospheric Rivers and Precipitation in the Western United States. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 126(6). https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JD034053

Mahoney, K., Scott, J. D., Alexander, M., et al. (2021). Cool season precipitation projections for California and the Western United States in NA-CORDEX models. Climate Dynamics, 56(9–10), 3081–3102. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-021-05632-z

Meyer, J. D. D., Wang, S. ‐Y. S., Gillies, R. R., and Yoon, J. (2021). Evaluating NA‐CORDEX historical performance and future change of western U.S. precipitation patterns and modes of variability. International Journal of Climatology, 41(9), 4509–4532. https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.7083

Mohsin, M., and Pilz, J. (2021). Stochastic model for drought analysis of the Colorado River Basin. Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00477-021-01989-z

Osenga, E. C., Vano, J. A., and Arnott, J. C. (2021). A community‐supported weather and soil moisture monitoring database of the Roaring Fork catchment of the Colorado River Headwaters. Hydrological Processes, 35(3). https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.14081

Pierce, D. W., Cayan, D. R., Goodrich, J., Das, T., and Munévar, A. (2021). Evaluating Global Climate Models for Hydrological Studies of the Upper Colorado River Basin. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association, n/a(n/a). https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.12974

Simpson, I. R., McKinnon, K. A., Davenport, F. V., et al. (2021). Emergent constraints on the large scale atmospheric circulation and regional hydroclimate: Do they still work in CMIP6 and how much can they actually constrain the future? Journal of Climate, 1–62. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-21-0055.1

Stevens, A., Willett, R., Mamalakis, A., et al. (2021). Graph-Guided Regularized Regression of Pacific Ocean Climate Variables to Increase Predictive Skill of Southwestern U.S. Winter Precipitation. Journal of Climate, 34(2), 737–754. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-20-0079.1

Szejner, P., Belmecheri, S., Babst, F., et al. (2021). Stable isotopes of tree rings reveal seasonal-to-decadal patterns during the emergence of a megadrought in the Southwestern US. Oecologia. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-021-04916-9

Towler, E., and Yates, D. (2021). Incorporating multiyear temperature predictions for water resources planning. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, 60(2), 171–183. https://doi.org/10.1175/JAMC-D-20-0134.1

Williams, A. P., Anchukaitis, K. J., Woodhouse, C. A., et al. (2021). Tree Rings and Observations Suggest No Stable Cycles in Sierra Nevada Cool‐Season Precipitation. Water Resources Research, 57(3). https://doi.org/10.1029/2020WR028599

Xiao, M., and Lettenmaier, D. P. (2021). Atmospheric Rivers and Snow Accumulation in the Upper Colorado River Basin. Geophysical Research Letters, 48(16), e2021GL094265. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL094265

Zhang, F., Biederman, J. A., Dannenberg, M. P., et al. (2021). Five Decades of Observed Daily Precipitation Reveal Longer and More Variable Drought Events Across Much of the Western United States. Geophysical Research Letters, 48(7). https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL092293

Zhao, S., and Zhang, J. (2021). Causal effect of the tropical Pacific sea surface temperature on the Upper Colorado River Basin spring precipitation. Climate Dynamics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-021-05944-0

Hydrology and water availability

Baker, S. A., Rajagopalan, B., and Wood, A. W. (2021). Enhancing Ensemble Seasonal Streamflow Forecasts in the Upper Colorado River Basin Using Multi‐Model Climate Forecasts. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 57(6), 906–922. https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.12960

Brice, B., Guiterman, C. H., Woodhouse, C., et al. (2021). Comparing tree-ring based reconstructions of snowpack variability at different scales for the Navajo Nation. Climate Services, 22, 100213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cliser.2021.100213

Darvishi, M., Destouni, G., Aminjafari, S., and Jaramillo, F. (2021). Multi-Sensor InSAR Assessment of Ground Deformations around Lake Mead and Its Relation to Water Level Changes. Remote Sensing, 13(3), 406. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13030406

Day, N. K. (2021). Assessment of streamflow and water quality in the Upper Yampa River Basin, Colorado, 1992–2018 (Report No. 2021–5016; Scientific Investigations Report). USGS Publications Warehouse. https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20215016

Elias, E., James, D., Heimel, S., et al. (2021). Implications of observed changes in high mountain snow water storage, snowmelt timing and melt window. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, 35, 100799. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2021.100799

Fleming, S. W., Garen, D. C., Goodbody, A. G., McCarthy, C. S., and Landers, L. C. (2021). Assessing the new Natural Resources Conservation Service water supply forecast model for the American West: A challenging test of explainable, automated, ensemble artificial intelligence. Journal of Hydrology, 602, 126782. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2021.126782

Fleming, S. W., Vesselinov, V. V., and Goodbody, A. G. (2021). Augmenting geophysical interpretation of data-driven operational water supply forecast modeling for a western US river using a hybrid machine learning approach. Journal of Hydrology, 597, 126327. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2021.126327

Heldmyer, A., Livneh, B., Molotch, N., and Rajagopalan, B. (2021). Investigating the Relationship Between Peak Snow‐Water Equivalent and Snow Timing Indices in the Western United States and Alaska. Water Resources Research, 57(5). https://doi.org/10.1029/2020WR029395

Hwang, J., Kumar, H., Ruhi, A., Sankarasubramanian, A., and Devineni, N. (2021). Quantifying Dam-Induced Fluctuations in Streamflow Frequencies Across the Colorado River Basin. Water Resources Research, 57(10), e2021WR029753. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021WR029753

Lackner, C. P., Geerts, B., and Wang, Y. (2021). Impact of global warming on snow in ski areas: A case study using a regional climate simulation over the interior western United States. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology. https://doi.org/10.1175/JAMC-D-20-0155.1

Li, Y., Gao, H., Allen, G. H., and Zhang, Z. (2021). Constructing Reservoir Area–Volume–Elevation Curve from TanDEM-X DEM Data. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing, 14, 2249–2257. https://doi.org/10.1109/JSTARS.2021.3051103

Mankin, J. S., Simpson, I., Hoell, A., et al. (2021). NOAA Drought Task Force Report on the 2020-2021 Southwestern U.S. Drought. NOAA Drought Task Force, MAPP, and NIDIS. 20 pp. https://www.drought.gov/sites/default/files/2021-09/NOAA-Drought-Task-Force-IV-Southwest-Drought-Report-9-23-21.pdf

McCabe, G. J., and Wolock, D. M. (2021). Water balance of the turn-of-the-century drought in the Southwestern United States. Environmental Research Letters, 16(4), 044015. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abbfc1

McKinnon, K. A., Poppick, A., and Simpson, I. R. (2021). Hot extremes have become drier in the United States Southwest. Nature Climate Change, 11(7), 598–604. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-021-01076-9

Miller, O. L., Miller, M. P., Longley, P. C., et al. (2021). How Will Baseflow Respond to Climate Change in the Upper Colorado River Basin? Geophysical Research Letters, 48(22). https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL095085

Miller, O. L., Putman, A. L., Alder, J., et al. (2021). Changing climate drives future streamflow declines and challenges in meeting water demand across the southwestern United States. Journal of Hydrology X, 11, 100074. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hydroa.2021.100074

Musselman, K. N., Addor, N., Vano, J. A., and Molotch, N. P. (2021). Winter melt trends portend widespread declines in snow water resources. Nature Climate Change, 11(5), 418–424. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-021-01014-9

Peters-Lidard, C. D., Rose, K. C., Kiang, J. E., et al. (2021). Indicators of climate change impacts on the water cycle and water management. Climatic Change, 165(1–2), 36. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-021-03057-5

Sabol, T. A., Griffiths, R. E., Topping, D. J., et al. (2021). Strandlines from large floods on the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona (Report No. 2021–5048; Scientific Investigations Report, p. 41). USGS Publications Warehouse. https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20215048

Scanlon, B. R., Rateb, A., Pool, D. R., et al. (2021). Effects of climate and irrigation on GRACE-based estimates of water storage changes in major US aquifers. Environmental Research Letters, 16(9), 094009. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac16ff

Schrock, I. J. Y., Fassnacht, S. R., Collados-Lara, A.-J., et al. (2021). Snow Water Equivalent Accumulation Patterns from a Trajectory Approach over the U.S. Southern Rocky Mountains. Hydrology, 8(3), 124. https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology8030124

Siirila-Woodburn, E. R., Rhoades, A. M., Hatchett, B. J., et al. (2021). A low-to-no snow future and its impacts on water resources in the western United States. Nature Reviews Earth and Environment, 2(11), 800–819. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-021-00219-y

Swanson, R. K., Springer, A. E., Kreamer, D. K., et al. (2021). Quantifying the base flow of the Colorado River: Its importance in sustaining perennial flow in northern Arizona and southern Utah (USA). Hydrogeology Journal, 29(2), 723–736. ($) https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-020-02260-5

Unema, J. A., Topping, D. J., Kohl, K. A., Pillow, M. J., and Caster, J. J. (2021). Historical floods and geomorphic change in the lower Little Colorado River during the late 19th to early 21st centuries (Report No. 2021–5049; Scientific Investigations Report, p. 34). USGS Publications Warehouse. https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20215049

Woodhouse, C. A., Smith, R. M., McAfee, S. A., et al. (2021). Upper Colorado River Basin 20th century droughts under 21st century warming: Plausible scenarios for the future. Climate Services, 21, 100206. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cliser.2020.100206

Woodson, D., Rajagopalan, B., Baker, S., et al. (2021). Stochastic Decadal Projections of Colorado River Streamflow and Reservoir Pool Elevations Conditioned on Temperature Projections. Water Resources Research, 57(12), e2021WR030936. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021WR030936

Yin, G., Forman, B. A., and Wang, J. (2021). Assimilation of Ground-Based GPS Observations of Vertical Displacement into a Land Surface Model to Improve Terrestrial Water Storage Estimates. Water Resources Research, 57(2), e2020WR028763. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020WR028763

Zhao, S., Fu, R., Zhuang, Y., and Wang, G. (2021). Long-Lead Seasonal Prediction of Streamflow over the Upper Colorado River Basin: The Role of the Pacific Sea Surface Temperature and Beyond. Journal of Climate, 34(16), 6855–6873. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-20-0824.1

Water management, planning, and policy

Butler, A., Fulp, T., Prairie, J., and Witherall, A. (2021). Water Resources Management in the Colorado River Basin. In Handbook of Catchment Management 2e (pp. 441–463). John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119531241.ch18

Fleck, J., and Castle, A. (2021). Green Light for Adaptive Policies on the Colorado River. Water, 14(1), 2. https://doi.org/10.3390/w14010002

Fleck, J., and Udall, B. (2021). Managing Colorado River risk. Science, 372(6545), 885–885. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abj5498

Garcia, M., and Islam, S. (2021). Water stress and water salience: Implications for water supply planning. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 66(6), 919–934. https://doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2021.1903474

Gerlak, A. K., Jacobs, K. L., McCoy, A. L., et al. (2021). Scenario Planning: Embracing the Potential for Extreme Events in the Colorado River Basin. Climatic Change, 165(1–2), 27. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-021-03013-3

Gerlak, A. K., Karambelkar, S., and Ferguson, D. B. (2021). Knowledge governance and learning: Examining challenges and opportunities in the Colorado River basin. Environmental Science and Policy, 125, 219–230. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2021.08.026

Gilson, G., and Garrick, D. (2021). Can Philanthropy Enable Collective Action to Conserve Rivers? Insights from a Decade of Collaboration in the Colorado River Basin. Conservation and Society, 19(3), 190. https://doi.org/10.4103/cs.cs_225_20

Hung, F., and Yang, Y. C. E. (2021). Assessing Adaptive Irrigation Impacts on Water Scarcity in Nonstationary Environments—A Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning Approach. Water Resources Research, 57(9), e2020WR029262. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020WR029262

Kwon, K., and Gimbel, J. (2021). Quenching Thirst in the Colorado River Basin. Colorado Water Center, Colorado State University, July 2021. 68 p. https://watercenter.colostate.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2021/11/CoWC-CR-Papers-Final-11032021.pdf

MacDonnell, L. J. (2021). Colorado River Basin. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3780342

MacDonnell, L. J. (2021). The Law of the Colorado River: Coping with Severe Sustained Drought, Part II. https://ssrn.com/abstract=3811024

MacDonnell, L. (2021). Sources of Controversy in the Law of the Colorado River: An Upper Basin View. https://www.ssrn.com/abstract=3874212

Milman, A., Bonnell, C., Maguire, R., Sorensen, K., and Blomquist, W. (2021). Groundwater Recharge for Water Security. Case Studies in the Environment, 5(1), 1113999. https://doi.org/10.1525/cse.2020.1113999

Rivera-Torres, M., and Gerlak, A. K. (2021). Evolving together: Transboundary water governance in the Colorado River Basin. International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, 21(4), 553–574. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10784-021-09538-3

Rivera-Torres, M., Gerlak, A. K., and Jacobs, K. L. (2021). Lesson learning in the Colorado River Basin. Water International, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/02508060.2021.1913782

Rosenberg, D. E. (2021). Adapt Lake Mead Releases to Inflow to Give Managers More Flexibility to Slow Reservoir Draw Down. Paper 170, Utah Water Research Laboratory, Utah State University, September 2021. 10 p. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/water_pubs/170/

Spivak, D. S. (2021). The Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan. Natural Resources Journal, 61, 33. https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/nrj/vol61/iss2/4/

Tanana, H., Garcia, J., Olaya, A., et al. (2021). Universal Access to Clean Water for Tribes in the Colorado River Basin. Water and Tribes Initiative, Colorado River Basin. http://www.naturalresourcespolicy.org/docs/water-tribes/wti-full-report-4.21.pdf

Wang, J., and Rosenberg, D. E. (2021). Living Within Our Means: Adapting Colorado River Basin Depletions to Available Water. Paper 171, Utah Water Research Laboratory, Utah State University, 2021. 25 p. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/water_pubs/171/

Wheeler, K., Kuhn, E., Bruckerhoff, L., et al. (2021). Alternative Management Paradigms for the Future of the Colorado and Green Rivers. White Paper 6, Future of the Colorado River Project, Center for Colorado River Studies, Utah State University. 91 pp. https://qcnr.usu.edu/coloradoriver/files/WhitePaper6.pdf

Water use

Cabot, P., Derwingson, A., and Torres-Rua, A. (2021). Evaluating Conserved-Consumptive Use in the Upper Colorado Basin. Colorado Water Conservation Board, November 2021. https://www.coloradobasinroundtable.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Evaluating-Conserved-Consumptive-Use-in-the-Upper-Colorado_2022-Project-Report_FINAL_no-Appendix.pdf

Earp, K. J., and Moreo, M. T. (2021). Evaporation from Lake Mead and Lake Mohave, Nevada and Arizona, 2010–2019 (Open-File Report No. 2021–1022; 48 p.). U.S. Geological Survey. https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20211022

Melton, F. S., Huntington, J., Grimm, R., et al. (2021). OpenET: Filling a Critical Data Gap in Water Management for the Western United States. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 1752-1688.12956. https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.12956

Norton, C. L., Dannenberg, M. P., Yan, D., et al. (2021). Climate and Socioeconomic Factors Drive Irrigated Agriculture Dynamics in the Lower Colorado River Basin. Remote Sensing, 13(9), 1659. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13091659

Water quality and sediment

Cavallin, J. E., Battaglin, W. A., Beihoffer, J., et al. (2021). Effects-Based Monitoring of Bioactive Chemicals Discharged to the Colorado River before and after a Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant Replacement. Environmental Science and Technology, 55(2), 974–984. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c05269

Cederberg, J. R., Paretti, N. V., Coes, A. L., Hermosillo, E., and Andrade, L. (2021). Estimation of dissolved-solids concentrations using continuous water-quality monitoring and regression models at four sites in the Yuma area, Arizona and California, January 2017 through March 2019 (Report No. 2021–5080; Scientific Investigations Report, p. 26). USGS Publications Warehouse. https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20215080

Day, N. K. (2021). Assessment of streamflow and water quality in the Upper Yampa River Basin, Colorado, 1992–2018 (Report No. 2021–5016; Scientific Investigations Report). USGS Publications Warehouse. https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20215016

Hannoun, D., Tietjen, T., & Brooks, K. (2021). The potential effects of climate change and drawdown on a newly constructed drinking water intake: Study case in Las Vegas, NV, USA. Water Utility Journal, 27, 1–13. http://www.ewra.net/wuj/pdf/WUJ_2021_27_01.pdf

Kasprak, A., Sankey, J. B., and Butterfield, B. J. (2021). Future regulated flows of the Colorado River in Grand Canyon foretell decreased areal extent of sediment and increases in riparian vegetation. Environmental Research Letters, 16(1), 014029. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abc9e4

Mueller, E. R., and Grams, P. E. (2021). A Morphodynamic Model to Evaluate Long‐Term Sandbar Rebuilding Using Controlled Floods in the Grand Canyon. Geophysical Research Letters, 48(9). https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL093007

Rumsey, C. A., Miller, O., Hirsch, R. M., et al. (2021). Substantial Declines in Salinity Observed Across the Upper Colorado River Basin During the 20th Century, 1929–2019. Water Resources Research, 57(5). https://doi.org/10.1029/2020WR028581

Ecosystems and environment

Abernethy, E. F., Muehlbauer, J. D., Kennedy, T. A., et al. (2021). Hydropeaking intensity and dam proximity limit aquatic invertebrate diversity in the Colorado River Basin. Ecosphere, 12(6). https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3559

Alizadeh, M. R., Abatzoglou, J. T., Luce, C. H., et al. (2021). Warming enabled upslope advance in western US forest fires. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(22), e2009717118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2009717118

Bransky, N., Sankey, T., B. Sankey, J., et al. (2021). Monitoring Tamarix Changes Using WorldView-2 Satellite Imagery in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. Remote Sensing, 13(5), 958. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13050958

DeLuca, W. V., Meehan, T., Seavy, et al. (2021). The Colorado River Delta and California’s Central Valley are critical regions for many migrating North American landbirds. Ornithological Applications, 123(1). https://doi.org/10.1093/ornithapp/duaa064

Dibble, K. L., Yackulic, C. B., Kennedy, T. A., et al. (2021). Water storage decisions will determine the distribution and persistence of imperiled river fishes. Ecological Applications, 31(2). https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2279

Durning, L. E., Sankey, J. B., Yackulic, C. B., et al. (2021). Hydrologic and geomorphic effects on riparian plant species occurrence and encroachment: Remote sensing of 360 km of the Colorado River in Grand Canyon. Ecohydrology, 14(8). https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.2344

Heidari, H., Warziniack, T., Brown, T. C., and Arabi, M. (2021). Impacts of Climate Change on Hydroclimatic Conditions of U.S. National Forests and Grasslands. Forests, 12(2), 139. https://doi.org/10.3390/f12020139

Hooley‐Underwood, Z. E., Thompson, K. G., and Bestgen, K. R. (2021). Razorback Sucker Spawning in an Intermittent Colorado Tributary. North American Journal of Fisheries Management, 41(4), 1151–1158. https://doi.org/10.1002/nafm.10623

Kasprak, A., Sankey, J. B., and Butterfield, B. J. (2021). Future regulated flows of the Colorado River in Grand Canyon foretell decreased areal extent of sediment and increases in riparian vegetation. Environmental Research Letters, 16(1), 014029. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abc9e4

Koehn, C. R., Petrie, M. D., Bradford, J. B., et al. (2021). Seasonal Precipitation and Soil Moisture Relationships Across Forests and Woodlands in the Southwestern United States. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 126(4). https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JG005986

Lomeli-Banda, M. A., Ramírez-Hernández, J., Rodríguez-Burgueño, J. E., and Salazar-Briones, C. (2021). The role of hydrological processes in ecosystem conservation: Comprehensive water management for a wetland in an arid climate. Hydrological Processes, 35(2), e14013. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.14013

Nagler, P. L., Barreto-Muñoz, A., Chavoshi Borujeni, S., et al. (2021). Riparian Area Changes in Greenness and Water Use on the Lower Colorado River in the USA from 2000 to 2020. Remote Sensing, 13(7), 1332. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13071332

Palmquist, E. C., Allan, G. J., Ogle, K., et al. (2021). Riverine complexity and life history inform restoration in riparian environments in the southwestern U.S. Restoration Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.13418

Pennock, C. A., Ahrens, Z. T., McKinstry, M. C., Budy, P., and Gido, K. B. (2021). Trophic niches of native and nonnative fishes along a river-reservoir continuum. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 12140. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-91730-1 --- Pennock, C. A., and Gido, K. B. (2021). Spatial and temporal dynamics of fish assemblages in a desert reservoir over 38 years. Hydrobiologia, 848(6), 1231–1248. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-021-04514-z

Tonkin, J. D., Olden, J. D., Merritt, D. M., et al. (2021). Designing flow regimes to support entire river ecosystems. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 19(6), 326–333. https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2348

Waldo, S., Deemer, B. R., Bair, L. S., and Beaulieu, J. J. (2021). Greenhouse gas emissions from an arid-zone reservoir and their environmental policy significance: Results from existing global models and an exploratory dataset. Environmental Science and Policy, 120, 53–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2021.02.006

Zamora, H. A., Eastoe, C. J., McIntosh, J. C., and Flessa, K. W. (2021). Groundwater Origin and Dynamics on the Eastern Flank of the Colorado River Delta, Mexico. Hydrology, 8(2), 80. https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology8020080

Societal and economic issues

Tanana, H., Garcia, J., Olaya, A., et al. (2021). Universal Access to Clean Water for Tribes in the Colorado River Basin. Water and Tribes Initiative, Colorado River Basin. http://www.naturalresourcespolicy.org/docs/water-tribes/wti-full-report-4.21.pdf

2020

Cross-cutting reports

Lukas, J., and Payton, E. (2020). Colorado River Basin Climate and Hydrology: State of the Science (p. 531). Western Water Assessment, University of Colorado Boulder. https://doi.org/10.25810/3hcv-w477

Individual report chapters (2-11) are separately listed in their respective categories below

Weather and climate

AghaKouchak, A., Chiang, F., Huning, L. S., et al. (2020). Climate Extremes and Compound Hazards in a Warming World. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 48(1), 519–548. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-earth-071719-055228

Ault, T. R. (2020). On the essentials of drought in a changing climate. Science, 368(6488), 256–260. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaz5492

Baker, S. A., Wood, A. W., and Rajagopalan, B. (2020). Application of Postprocessing to Watershed-Scale Subseasonal Climate Forecasts over the Contiguous United States. Journal of Hydrometeorology, 21(5), 971–987. https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-19-0155.1

Chikamoto, Y., Wang, S.-Y. S., Yost, M., Yocom, L., and Gillies, R. R. (2020). Colorado River water supply is predictable on multi-year timescales owing to long-term ocean memory. Nature Communications Earth and Environment, 1(1), 26. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-020-00027-0

Foster, L. M., Williams, K. H., and Maxwell, R. M. (2020). Resolution matters when modeling climate change in headwaters of the Colorado River. Environmental Research Letters, 15(10), 104031. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aba77f

Gibson, P. B., Waliser, D. E., Guan, B., et al. (2020). Ridging Associated with Drought across the Western and Southwestern United States: Characteristics, Trends, and Predictability Sources. Journal of Climate, 33(7), 2485–2508. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-19-0439.1

Hausfather, Z., and Peters, G. P. (2020). Emissions – the ‘business as usual’ story is misleading. Nature, 577(7792), 618–620. ($) https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-00177-3

Kirchmeier-Young, M. C., and Zhang, X. (2020). Human influence has intensified extreme precipitation in North America. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(24), 13308–13313. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1921628117

Kunkel, K. E., Karl, T. R., Squires, M. F., et al. (2020). Precipitation Extremes: Trends and Relationships with Average Precipitation and Precipitable Water in the Contiguous United States. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, 59(1), 125–142. https://doi.org/10.1175/JAMC-D-19-0185.1

Lukas, J., and Harding, B. (2020). Current Understanding of Colorado River Basin Climate and Hydrology (Chapter 2). In Colorado River Basin Climate and Hydrology: State of the Science (pp. 42–81). Western Water Assessment, University of Colorado. https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/reports/8w32r663z

Lukas, J., Wolter, K., and Barsugli, J. (2020). Weather and Climate Forecasting (Chapter 7). In Colorado River Basin Climate and Hydrology: State of the Science (pp. 254–286). Western Water Assessment, University of Colorado. https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/reports/8w32r663z

Mariotti, A., Baggett, C., Barnes, E. A., et al. (2020). Windows of Opportunity for Skillful Forecasts Subseasonal to Seasonal and Beyond. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, BAMS-D-18-0326.1. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-18-0326.1

McAfee, S. (2020). Observations—Weather and Climate (Chapter 4). In Colorado River Basin Climate and Hydrology: State of the Science (pp. 114–152). Western Water Assessment, University of Colorado. https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/reports/8w32r663z

Overpeck, J. T., and Udall, B. (2020). Climate change and the aridification of North America. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(22), 11856–11858. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2006323117

Patricola, C. M., O’Brien, J. P., Risser, M. D., et al. (2020). Maximizing ENSO as a source of western US hydroclimate predictability. Climate Dynamics, 54(1–2), 351–372. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-019-05004-8

Sierks, M. D., Kalansky, J., Cannon, F., and Ralph, F. M. (2020). Characteristics, Origins, and Impacts of Summertime Extreme Precipitation in the Lake Mead Watershed. Journal of Climate, 33(7), 2663–2680. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-19-0387.1

Stahle, D. W., Cook, E. R., Burnette, D. J., et al. (2020). Dynamics, Variability, and Change in Seasonal Precipitation Reconstructions for North America. Journal of Climate, 33(8), 3173–3195. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-19-0270.1

Thakur, B., Kalra, A., Lakshmi, V., et al. (2020). Linkage between ENSO phases and western US snow water equivalent. Atmospheric Research, 236, 104827. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2019.104827

Tokarska, K. B., Stolpe, M. B., Sippel, S., et al. (2020). Past warming trend constrains future warming in CMIP6 models. Science Advances, 6(12), eaaz9549. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaz9549

Williams, A. P., Cook, E. R., Smerdon, J. E., et al. (2020). Large contribution from anthropogenic warming to an emerging North American megadrought. Science, 368(6488), 314–318. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaz9600

Wood, A., Woelders, L., and Lukas, J. (2020a). Hydrologic Models (Chapter 6). In Colorado River Basin Climate and Hydrology: State of the Science (pp. 221–252). Western Water Assessment, University of Colorado. https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/reports/8w32r663z

Wood, A., Woelders, L., and Lukas, J. (2020b). Streamflow Forecasting (Chapter 8). In Colorado River Basin Climate and Hydrology: State of the Science (pp. 287–333). Western Water Assessment, University of Colorado. https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/reports/8w32r663z

Woodhouse, C., and Lukas, J. J. (2020). Paleohydrology (Chapter 10). In Colorado River Basin Climate and Hydrology: State of the Science (pp. 361–383). Western Water Assessment, University of Colorado. https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/reports/8w32r663z

Hydrology and water availability

Broxton, P. D., Van Leeuwen, W. J. D., and Biederman, J. A. (2020). Forest cover and topography regulate the thin, ephemeral snowpacks of the semiarid Southwest United States. Ecohydrology, 13(4), e2202. https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.2202

Carroll, R. W. H., Gochis, D., and Williams, K. H. (2020). Efficiency of the Summer Monsoon in Generating Streamflow Within a Snow‐Dominated Headwater Basin of the Colorado River. Geophysical Research Letters, 47(23). https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL090856

Condon, L. E., Atchley, A. L., and Maxwell, R. M. (2020). Evapotranspiration depletes groundwater under warming over the contiguous United States. Nature Communications, 11(1), 873. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-14688-0

Davenport, F. V., Herrera‐Estrada, J. E., Burke, M., and Diffenbaugh, N. S. (2020). Flood Size Increases Nonlinearly Across the Western United States in Response to Lower Snow‐Precipitation Ratios. Water Resources Research, 56(1). https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR025571

Dethier, E. N., Sartain, S. L., Renshaw, C. E., and Magilligan, F. J. (2020). Spatially coherent regional changes in seasonal extreme streamflow events in the United States and Canada since 1950. Science Advances, 6(49), eaba5939. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aba5939

Hammond, J. C., and Kampf, S. K. (2020). Subannual Streamflow Responses to Rainfall and Snowmelt Inputs in Snow‐Dominated Watersheds of the Western United States. Water Resources Research, 56(4). https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR026132

Kohn, M. S., Marineu, M. D., Hempel, L. A., and McDonald, R. R. (2020). Incipient Bed-Movement and Flood-Frequency Analysis using Hydrophones to Estimate Flushing Flows on the Upper Colorado River, Colorado, 2019 (Scientific Investigations Report No. 2020–5069; Scientific Investigations Report, p. 50). U.S. Geological Survey. https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20205069

Liu, T., Greenbaum, N., Baker, V. R., et al. (2020). Paleoflood hydrology on the lower Green River, upper Colorado River Basin, USA: An example of a naturalist approach to flood-risk analysis. Journal of Hydrology, 580, 124337. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2019.124337 [select "View Open Manuscript" if no institutional access]

Liu, T., Ji, L., Baker, V. R., Harden, T. M., and Cline, M. L. (2020). Holocene extreme paleofloods and their climatological context, Upper Colorado River Basin, USA. Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment, 44(5), 727–745. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309133320904038

Livneh, B., and Badger, A. M. (2020). Drought less predictable under declining future snowpack. Nature Climate Change, 10(5), 452–458. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-020-0754-8

Lopez‐Cantu, T., Prein, A. F., and Samaras, C. (2020). Uncertainties in Future U.S. Extreme Precipitation From Downscaled Climate Projections. Geophysical Research Letters, 47(9). https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL086797

Lukas, J., Gutmann, E., Harding, B., and Lehner, F. (2020). Climate Change-Informed Hydrology (Chapter 11). In Colorado River Basin Climate and Hydrology: State of the Science (pp. 384–449). Western Water Assessment, University of Colorado. https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/reports/8w32r663z

Lukas, J., and Harding, B. (2020). Current Understanding of Colorado River Basin Climate and Hydrology (Chapter 2). In Colorado River Basin Climate and Hydrology: State of the Science (pp. 42–81). Western Water Assessment, University of Colorado. https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/reports/8w32r663z

Lukas, J., Payton, E., Deems, J., Rangwala, I., and Duncan, B. (2020). Observations—Hydrology (Chapter 5). In Colorado River Basin Climate and Hydrology: State of the Science (pp. 154–219). Western Water Assessment, University of Colorado. https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/reports/8w32r663z

Martin, J. T., Pederson, G. T., Woodhouse, C. A., et al. (2020). Increased drought severity tracks warming in the United States’ largest river basin. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(21), 11328–11336. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1916208117

McCabe, G. J., and Wolock, D. M. (2020). The Water‐Year Water Balance of the Colorado River Basin. Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 56(4), 724–737. https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.12848

McCabe, G. J., Wolock, D. M., Woodhouse, C. A., et al. (2020). Basinwide Hydroclimatic Drought in the Colorado River Basin. Earth Interactions, 24(2), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1175/EI-D-20-0001.1

Milly, P. C. D., and Dunne, K. A. (2020). Colorado River flow dwindles as warming-driven loss of reflective snow energizes evaporation. Science. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aay9187

Nelson, S. M., Kendy, E., Flessa, K. W., et al. (2020). Channel incision by headcut migration: Reconnection of the Colorado River to its estuary and the Gulf of California during the floods of 1979–1988. Hydrological Processes, 34(22), 4156–4174. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.13858

O’Leary, D. S., Hall, D. K., DiGirolamo, N. E., and Riggs, G. A. (2020). Regional trends in snowmelt timing for the western United States throughout the MODIS era. Physical Geography, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/02723646.2020.1854418

Overpeck, J. T., and Udall, B. (2020). Climate change and the aridification of North America. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(22), 11856–11858. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2006323117

Payton, E. (2020). Historical Hydrology (Chapter 9). In Colorado River Basin Climate and Hydrology: State of the Science (pp. 337–360). Western Water Assessment, University of Colorado. https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/reports/8w32r663z

Penn, C. A., Clow, D. W., Sexstone, G. A., and Murphy, S. F. (2020). Changes in Climate and Land Cover Affect Seasonal Streamflow Forecasts in the Rio Grande Headwaters. Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 56(5), 882–902. https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.12863

Rateb, A., Scanlon, B. R., Pool, D. R., et al. (2020). Comparison of Groundwater Storage Changes From GRACE Satellites With Monitoring and Modeling of Major U.S. Aquifers. Water Resources Research, 56(12). https://doi.org/10.1029/2020WR027556

Reclamation. (2020). Exploring Climate and Hydrology Projections from the CMIP5 Archive. (Draft report.) US Bureau of Reclamation. [unreleased as of June 2021]

Robeson, S. M., Maxwell, J. T., and Ficklin, D. L. (2020). Bias Correction of Paleoclimatic Reconstructions: A New Look at 1,200+ Years of Upper Colorado River Flow. Geophysical Research Letters, 47(1). https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL086689

Robles, M. D., Hammond, J. C., Kampf, S. K., Biederman, J. A., and Demaria, E. M. C. (2020). Winter Inputs Buffer Streamflow Sensitivity to Snowpack Losses in the Salt River Watershed in the Lower Colorado River Basin. Water, 13(1), 3. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13010003

Salehabadi, H., Tarboton, D., Kuhn, E., et al. (2020). The future hydrology of the Colorado River Basin. Future of the Colorado River Project, White Paper No. 4. Center for Colorado River Studies, Utah State University. 71 pp. https://www.fs.usda.gov/rm/pubs_journals/2020/rmrs_2020_salehabadi_h001.pdf

Solder, J. E., Beisner, K. R., Anderson, J., and Bills, D. J. (2020). Rethinking groundwater flow on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, USA: Characterizing recharge sources and flow paths with environmental tracers. Hydrogeology Journal, 28(5), 1593–1613. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-020-02193-z

Swain, D. L., Wing, O. E. J., Bates, P. D., et al. (2020). Increased Flood Exposure Due to Climate Change and Population Growth in the United States. Earth’s Future, 8(11). https://doi.org/10.1029/2020EF001778

Tillman, F. D., Gangopadhyay, S., and Pruitt, T. (2020b). Recent and projected precipitation and temperature changes in the Grand Canyon area with implications for groundwater resources. Nature Scientific Reports, 10(1), 19740. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-76743-6

Tran, H., Zhang, J., Cohard, J., Condon, L. E., and Maxwell, R. M. (2020). Simulating Groundwater‐Streamflow Connections in the Upper Colorado River Basin. Groundwater, 58(3), 392–405. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwat.13000

Wang, J., and Schmidt, J. C. (2020). Stream flow and Losses of the Colorado River in the Southern Colorado Plateau. White Paper 5, Future of the Colorado River Project, Center for Colorado River Studies, Utah State University. https://qcnr.usu.edu/coloradoriver/files/WhitePaper5.pdf

Webb, R. W., Raleigh, M. S., McGrath, D., et al. (2020). Within‐Stand Boundary Effects on Snow Water Equivalent Distribution in Forested Areas. Water Resources Research, 56(10). https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR024905

Water management, planning, and policy

Escriva-Bou, A., McCann, H., Hanak, E., et al. (2020). Water Accounting in Western US, Australia, and Spain: Comparative Analysis. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 146(3), 04020004. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)WR.1943-5452.0001157

Garcia, M., Ridolfi, E., and Di Baldassarre, G. (2020). The interplay between reservoir storage and operating rules under evolving conditions. Journal of Hydrology, 590, 125270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2020.125270

Hadjimichael, A., Quinn, J., Wilson, et al. (2020). Defining Robustness, Vulnerabilities, and Consequential Scenarios for Diverse Stakeholder Interests in Institutionally Complex River Basins. Earth’s Future, 8(7). https://doi.org/10.1029/2020EF001503

Hobbins, M., and Barsugli, J. (2020). Threatening the vigor of the Colorado River. Science, 367(6483), 1192–1193. ($) https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abb3624

Joshi, N., Tamaddun, K., Parajuli, R., et al. (2020). Future Changes in Water Supply and Demand for Las Vegas Valley: A System Dynamic Approach based on CMIP3 and CMIP5 Climate Projections. Hydrology, 7(1), 16. https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology7010016

Juricich, R. (2020). Colorado River Basin Governance, Decision Making, and Alternative Approaches. World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2020, 121–130. https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784482957.013

Karambelkar, S., and Gerlak, A. K. (2020). Collaborative Governance and Stakeholder Participation in the Colorado River Basin: An Examination of Patterns of Inclusion and Exclusion. Natural Resources Journal, 60(1), 47. https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/nrj/vol60/iss1/3/

Khatri, K. B., and Strong, C. (2020). Climate Change, Water Resources, and Potential Adaptation Strategies in Utah. Utah Division of Water Resources. https://water.utah.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Final-Report_ClimateChangeUtah_May_2020.pdf

Mumme, S. P. (2020). The 1944 Water Treaty and the Incorporation of Environmental Values in U.S.-Mexico Transboundary Water Governance. Environmental Science and Policy, 112, 126–133. ($) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2020.05.001

Nelson, D. R., Bledsoe, B. P., and Marshall Shepherd, J. (2020). From hubris to humility: Transcending original sin in managing hydroclimatic risk. Anthropocene, 30, 100239. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ancene.2020.100239

Nielsen‐Gammon, J. W., Banner, J. L., Cook, B. I., et al. (2020). Unprecedented Drought Challenges for Texas Water Resources in a Changing Climate: What Do Researchers and Stakeholders Need to Know? Earth’s Future, 8(8). https://doi.org/10.1029/2020EF001552

Page, R., and Dilling, L. (2020). How experiences of climate extremes motivate adaptation among water managers. Climatic Change, 161(3), 499–516. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-020-02712-7

Payton, E., Smith, R., Jerla, C., and Prairie, J. (2020). Primary Planning Tools (Chapter 3). In Colorado River Basin Climate and Hydrology: State of the Science (pp. 82–111). Western Water Assessment, University of Colorado. https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/reports/8w32r663z

Reclamation. (2020). Draft 7D Report—Review of the Colorado River Interim Guidelines for Lower Basin Shortages and Coordinated Operations for Lake Powell and Lake Mead, Upper and Lower Colorado Basin Regions. US Bureau of Reclamation. https://www.usbr.gov/ColoradoRiverBasin/documents/7.D.Review_DraftReport_10-23-2020.pdf

Richter, B. D., Andrews, S., Dahlinghaus, R., et al. (2020). Buy Me a River: Purchasing Water Rights to Restore River Flows in the Western USA. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 56(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.12808

Rightnar, J., and Dinar, A. (2020). The Welfare Implications of Bankruptcy Allocation of the Colorado River Water: The Case of the Salton Sea Region. Water Resources Management, 34(8), 2353–2370. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-020-02552-1

Sterle, K., Jose, L., Coors, S., et al. (2020). Collaboratively Modeling Reservoir Reoperation to Adapt to Earlier Snowmelt Runoff. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 146(1), 05019021. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)WR.1943-5452.0001136

Wang, J., Rosenberg, D. E., Wheeler, K. G., and Schmidt, J. C. (2020). Managing the Colorado River for an Uncertain Future. White Paper 3, Future of the Colorado River Project, Center for Colorado River Studies, Utah State University. https://qcnr.usu.edu/coloradoriver/files/CCRS_White_Paper_3.pdf

Yang, Y. C. E., Son, K., Hung, F., and Tidwell, V. (2020). Impact of climate change on adaptive management decisions in the face of water scarcity. Journal of Hydrology, 588, 125015. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2020.125015 [select "View Open Manuscript" if no institutional access]

Water use

Joshi, N., Tamaddun, K., Parajuli, R., et al. (2020). Future Changes in Water Supply and Demand for Las Vegas Valley: A System Dynamic Approach based on CMIP3 and CMIP5 Climate Projections. Hydrology, 7(1), 16. https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology7010016

Richter, B. D., Benoit, K., Dugan, J., et al. (2020). Decoupling Urban Water Use and Growth in Response to Water Scarcity. Water, 12(10), 2868. https://doi.org/10.3390/w12102868

Richter, B. D., Bartak, D., Caldwell, P., et al. (2020). Water scarcity and fish imperilment driven by beef production. Nature Sustainability, 3(4), 319–328. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-020-0483-z

Zhang, B., Xia, Y., Long, B., et al. (2020). Evaluation and comparison of multiple evapotranspiration data models over the contiguous United States: Implications for the next phase of NLDAS (NLDAS-Testbed) development. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 280, 107810. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2019.107810 [select "View Open Manuscript" if no institutional access]

Water quality and sediment

Carbajal, N., Ley, Y. M.-, Soto-Jiménez, M., Páez-Osuna, F., and Tuxpan, J. (2020). Finger-like plumes of suspended sediment in the Colorado River Delta, Gulf of California. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 245, 106996. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2020.106996

Dean, D. J., Topping, D. J., Grams, P. E., Walker, A. E., and Schmidt, J. C. (2020). Does Channel Narrowing by Floodplain Growth Necessarily Indicate Sediment Surplus? Lessons From Sediment Transport Analyses in the Green and Colorado Rivers, Canyonlands, Utah. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 125(11). https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JF005414

Deemer, B. R., Stets, E. G., and Yackulic, C. B. (2020). Calcite precipitation in Lake Powell reduces alkalinity and total salt loading to the Lower Colorado River Basin. Limnology and Oceanography, 65(7), 1439–1455. https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.11399

East, A. E., and Sankey, J. B. (2020). Geomorphic and Sedimentary Effects of Modern Climate Change: Current and Anticipated Future Conditions in the Western United States. Reviews of Geophysics, 58(4). https://doi.org/10.1029/2019RG000692

Grams, P. E., Dean, D. J., Walker, A. E., Kasprak, A., and Schmidt, J. C. (2020). The roles of flood magnitude and duration in controlling channel width and complexity on the Green River in Canyonlands, Utah, USA. Geomorphology, 371, 107438. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2020.107438

Hensley, R. T., Spangler, M. J., DeVito, L. F., et al. (2020). Evaluating spatiotemporal variation in water chemistry of the upper Colorado River using longitudinal profiling. Hydrological Processes, 34(8), 1782–1793. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.13690

Mihalevich, B. A., Neilson, B. T., Buahin, C. A., Yackulic, C. B., and Schmidt, J. C. (2020). Water Temperature Controls for Regulated Canyon‐Bound Rivers. Water Resources Research, 56(12). https://doi.org/10.1029/2020WR027566

Rubin, D. M., Buscombe, D., Wright, S. A., et al. (2020). Causes of Variability in Suspended‐Sand Concentration Evaluated Using Measurements in the Colorado River in Grand Canyon. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 125(9). https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JF005226

Saber, A., James, D. E., and Hayes, D. F. (2020). Long‐term forecast of water temperature and dissolved oxygen profiles in deep lakes using artificial neural networks conjugated with wavelet transform. Limnology and Oceanography, 65(6), 1297–1317. https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.11390

Walker, A. E., Moore, J. N., Grams, P. E., Dean, D. J., and Schmidt, J. C. (2020). Channel narrowing by inset floodplain formation of the lower Green River in the Canyonlands region, Utah. GSA Bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1130/B35233.1

Ecosystems and environment

Arcusa, S. H., McKay, N. P., Routson, C. C., and Munoz, S. E. (2020). Dust-drought interactions over the last 15,000 years: A network of lake sediment records from the San Juan Mountains, Colorado. The Holocene, 30(4), 559–574. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683619875192

Baldwin, A. K., Spanjer, A. R., Rosen, M. R., and Thom, T. (2020). Microplastics in Lake Mead National Recreation Area, USA: Occurrence and biological uptake. PLOS ONE, 15(5), e0228896. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0228896

Butterfield, B. J., Grams, P. E., Durning, L. E., et al. (2020). Associations between riparian plant morphological guilds and fluvial sediment dynamics along the regulated Colorado River in Grand Canyon. River Research and Applications, 36(3), 410–421. https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.3589

Day, N. K., Schmidt, T. S., Roberts, J. J., et al. (2020). Mercury and selenium concentrations in fishes of the Upper Colorado River Basin, southwestern United States: A retrospective assessment. PLOS ONE, 15(1), e0226824. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0226824

Diehl, R. M., Wilcox, A. C., and Stella, J. C. (2020). Evaluation of the integrated riparian ecosystem response to future flow regimes on semiarid rivers in Colorado, USA. Journal of Environmental Management, 271, 111037. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.111037

Goeking, S. A., and Tarboton, D. G. (2020). Forests and Water Yield: A Synthesis of Disturbance Effects on Streamflow and Snowpack in Western Coniferous Forests. Journal of Forestry, 118(2), 172–192. https://doi.org/10.1093/jofore/fvz069

Gómez‐Sapiens, M. M., Jarchow, C. J., Flessa, K. W., et al. (2020). Effect of an environmental flow on vegetation growth and health using ground and remote sensing metrics. Hydrological Processes, 34(8), 1682–1696. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.13689

Healy, B. D., Omana Smith, E. C., Schelly, R. C., Trammell, M. A., and Nelson, C. B. (2020). Establishment of a Reproducing Population of Endangered Humpback Chub through Translocations to a Colorado River Tributary in Grand Canyon, Arizona. North American Journal of Fisheries Management, 40(1), 278–292. https://doi.org/10.1002/nafm.10408

Kegerries, R. B., Albrecht, B., McKinstry, M. C., et al. (2020). Small-Bodied Fish Surveys Demonstrate Native Fish Dominance Over 300 Kilometers of the Colorado River Through Grand Canyon, Arizona. Western North American Naturalist, 80(2), 146. https://doi.org/10.3398/064.080.0202

Mayes, M., Caylor, K. K., Singer, M. B., et al. (2020). Climate sensitivity of water use by riparian woodlands at landscape scales. Hydrological Processes, 34(25), 4884–4903. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.13942

Nagler, P. L., Barreto‐Muñoz, A., Chavoshi Borujeni, S., et al. (2020). Ecohydrological responses to surface flow across borders: Two decades of changes in vegetation greenness and water use in the riparian corridor of the Colorado River delta. Hydrological Processes, 34(25), 4851–4883. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.13911

Pennock, C. A., McKinstry, M. C., Cathcart, C. N., et al. (2020). Movement ecology of imperilled fish in a novel ecosystem: River‐reservoir movements by razorback sucker and translocations to aid conservation. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 30(8), 1540–1551. https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.3399

Scamardo, J., and Wohl, E. (2020). Sediment storage and shallow groundwater response to beaver dam analogues in the Colorado Front Range, USA. River Research and Applications, 36(3), 398–409. https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.3592

Stevens, L. E., Jenness, J., and Ledbetter, J. D. (2020). Springs and Springs-Dependent Taxa of the Colorado River Basin, Southwestern North America: Geography, Ecology and Human Impacts. Water, 12(5), 1501. https://doi.org/10.3390/w12051501

Szejner, P., Belmecheri, S., Ehleringer, J. R., and Monson, R. K. (2020). Recent increases in drought frequency cause observed multi-year drought legacies in the tree rings of semi-arid forests. Oecologia, 192(1), 241–259. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-019-04550-6

Walters, D. M., Cross, W. F., Kennedy, T. A., et al. (2020). Food web controls on mercury fluxes and fate in the Colorado River, Grand Canyon. Science Advances, 6(20), eaaz4880. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaz4880

Societal and economic issues

Wutich, A., DeMyers, C., Bausch, J. C., White, D. D., and Sullivan, A. (2020). Stakeholders and social influence in a shadow network: Implications for transitions toward urban water sustainability in the Colorado River basin. Ecology and Society, 25(1), art28. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-11451-250128

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