How the Colorado River System’s Reduced Flow Could Affect Western Agriculture

• There is a shortage of water in the Colorado River Basin due to high demand in the seven states it serves and low flow after a decade of drought, exacerbated by climate change.
• About 80 percent of the annual water flow in the Colorado River system (CRS) is allocated for US agriculture, directly competing with residential demand and challenging an agreement to allocate 1.5 million acre-feet of water to Mexico.
• In response to reduced access to and higher costs for irrigation water, farmers in California and other CRS states will likely reduce their production of cash crops, including fruit, lettuce, and tree nuts, potentially increasing those commodities’ market prices.

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Introduction

The Colorado River Basin, which drains just under 250,000 square miles of land in the western United States, is the 10th-largest river system in North America by drainage area. It is less than one-seventh the size of the massive Mississippi River Basin, but nevertheless it is extraordinarily important to the national, state, and local economies. It is the major surface-water source for agricultural, industrial, and municipal use across an extensive arid region that averages less than 14 inches of rain annually. Along its 1,450-mile pathway to the Pacific Ocean, the river and its major tributaries provide water to portions of seven states (Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming) and the northwestern Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora.¹

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Notes

1. Water Resources Mission Area, “Colorado River Basin Focus Area Study,” US Geological Survey, October 16, 2018, https://www.usgs.gov/mission-areas/water-resources/science/colorado-river-basin-focus-area-study.