A History of Collaboration: Twenty Years of Drought Response in the Management of the Colorado River
Abstract
The Colorado River basin has experienced unprecedented and prolonged drought for over twenty years, and today, as focus turns to upcoming negotiations for post-2026 operations of the major reservoirs on the Colorado River, there is recognition that the next set of operational rules must be appropriately responsive to the significant challenges facing the basin. Water managers have come together in the past to tackle difficult issues in the Colorado River basin and have worked together within the existing legal and regulatory framework that governs the management of the Colorado River. Over the last twenty years, as drought persisted, water managers have developed increasingly flexible, collaborative approaches to the management of the Colorado River with the implementation of the 2007 Interim Guidelines and the 2019 Drought Contingency Plans. By looking back at these pivotal documents and the circumstance in which they were created, one can see a history of collaboration that provides context for present and future discussions on the Colorado River.
First Page
271
Custom Citation
Emily Halvorsen, A History of Collaboration: Twenty Years of Drought Response in the Management of the Colorado River, 25 U. Denv. Water L. Rev. 271 (2022).