Colorado River Science Wiki

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The Colorado River Science Wiki is a web-based clearinghouse for scientific and technical information relevant to the Colorado River Basin and the management of its water resources and related natural resources. This clearinghouse is intended to be useful to managers and other decision-makers, to researchers, to the media, and to the broader public.

Cross-cutting reports

• 2021 SECURE Water Act reports
• 2020 CRB State of the Science
• 2018 CRB Ten Tribes Partnership Tribal Water Study
• 2012 Colorado River Basin Study

Weather and climate

• Climate patterns and variability
• Recent climate change
• Weather and climate monitoring
• Weather and climate forecasts
• Projected future climate
• Colorado River extremes

Hydrology and water availability

• Water balance and basin water budget
• Snowpack
• Soil moisture
• Evapotranspiration (ET)
• Groundwater
• Streamflow
• Paleohydrology
• Hydrologic variability and trends
• Seasonal streamflow forecasts
• Droughts
• Floods
• Channel dynamics
• Hydrologic modeling
• Projected future hydrology

Water operations and planning

• Dams, reservoirs, and other infrastructure
• Operating guidelines and rules
• River system models
  • Colorado River Mid-term Modeling System (CRMMS)
  • Colorado River Simulation System (CRSS)
• Planning approaches

Water Use

• Consumptive uses and losses
  • Agricultural water use
  • Municipal water use
  • Reservoir evaporation
  • Channel and bank losses
• Instream flows
• Demand accounting and scenarios
• Future basin demand

Water quality

• Salinity
• Metals and acid mine drainage
• Other contaminants

Geomorphology and sediment

• Erosion and sediment sources
• Riverbed sediment dynamics
• Reservoir sedimentation

Ecosystems and environment

• Vegetation change
• Wildfires
• Insect infestations and disease
• Tamarisk and invasive plants
• Threatened and endangered fish species
• Invasive mussels
• Salton Sea
• Colorado River Delta

Societal and economic issues

• Benefits of water
• Impacts of shortage and drought
• Social inequity and vulnerability

We welcome your feedback; please use this form to send us suggestions, or reach us at the contact information below.