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Critical Effects of Precipitation on Future Colorado River Flow


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Created: Aug 28, 2023 at 3:42 p.m.
Last updated: Aug 24, 2024 at 7:29 p.m.
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Content types: Multidimensional Content 
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Abstract

Of concern to Colorado River management, as operating guidelines post-2026 are being considered, is whether water resource recovery from low flows during 2000–2020 is possible. Here we analyze new simulations from the sixth generation of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) to determine plausible climate impacts on Colorado River flows for 2026–2050 when revised guidelines would operate. Constrained by empirical estimates of Lee Ferry gauge (through which over 85% of the river flow passes) flow sensitivity to meteorological variability, effects of CMIP6 projected precipitation and temperature changes are integrated to project Lee Ferry flow. The critical importance of precipitation, hitherto largely discounted, is emphasized. Model projections indicate increased precipitation in the Upper Colorado River basin due to climate change, which alone acts to increase river flows 5%–7% (relative to a 2000–2020 climatology). Depending on the river’s temperature sensitivity, this wet signal compensates some, if not all, of the depleting effects from basin warming. Considerable precipitation variability is demonstrated, driving a much greater range of plausible Colorado River flow changes for 2026–2050 than previously surmised from treatment of temperature impacts alone: precipitation-induced Lee Ferry flow changes of -25% to +40% contrast with a -30% to -5% range from expected warming effects only. Consequently, extreme low and high flows are more likely. Lee Ferry flow projections, conditioned on an initial drought state in 2000–2020, analogous to observations, reveal substantial recovery odds for water resources, albeit with elevated risks of even further flow declines than recent .

Subject Keywords

Coverage

Spatial

Coordinate System/Geographic Projection:
WGS 84 EPSG:4326
Coordinate Units:
Decimal degrees
Place/Area Name:
Upper Colorado River Basin
North Latitude
43.0000°
East Longitude
-105.0000°
South Latitude
35.0000°
West Longitude
-113.0000°

Temporal

Start Date:
End Date:

Content

Data Services

The following web services are available for data contained in this resource. Geospatial Feature and Raster data are made available via Open Geospatial Consortium Web Services. The provided links can be copied and pasted into GIS software to access these data. Multidimensional NetCDF data are made available via a THREDDS Data Server using remote data access protocols such as OPeNDAP. Other data services may be made available in the future to support additional data types.

Related Resources

This resource is described by Hoerling, M. P., J. K. Eischeid, H. F. Diaz, B. Rajagopolan and E. Kuhn, (2024), "Critical Effects of Precipitation on Future Colorado River Flow," Journal of Climate, 37(16): 4079-4093, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-23-0617.1.

Credits

Funding Agencies

This resource was created using funding from the following sources:
Agency Name Award Title Award Number
No external funding

How to Cite

Rajagopalan, B. (2024). Critical Effects of Precipitation on Future Colorado River Flow, HydroShare, http://www.hydroshare.org/resource/52f57fb7e08d46ffbb8ea65073c9eefc

This resource is shared under the Creative Commons Attribution CC BY.

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
CC-BY

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