Colorado River Basin Assessment

Island Press partnered with the Sonoran Institute to develop an assessment of water-based ecosystem services in the Colorado River Basin region based on the MA's methodology.

The result is the Colorado River Basin Ecosystem Services Assessment Report. This detailed, smaller-scale report based on extant primary and secondary data presents four unique scenarios of what the future might look like given current trends, pressures, and policy options. Demonstrating the range and magnitude of possible impacts helps convince decision-makers to think about the trade-offs between different options and long-range costs and benefits.

• Download the executive summary.
• Download the full report.

To request a paper copy of either document, please contact Jaime Jennings, Senior Publicist, at (202) 232-7933 x44 or press@islandpress.org.

In the News
From The Los Angeles Times:

A TRICKLE OF WATER MIGHT SAVE ESTUARY 
Conservationists believe a small but immediate step could renew the Colorado River Delta
By Frank Clifford, Special to The Times
September 17, 2007

"The Colorado River Delta was once a watery labyrinth of willow thickets, mesquite and cottonwood, bigger than the state of Rhode Island and teeming with bird and animal life. Today it is a barren expanse of salt-stained mudflats where the river used to meet the sea south of Yuma.

"About 90% of the delta's wetlands and natural habitat dried up over the last half century, as water from the Colorado was captured in reservoirs and diverted to farms and cities from Las Vegas to Mexicali.

"For more than a decade, conservation groups in the U.S. and Mexico have tried unsuccessfully to restore North America's largest desert estuary. Now the Sonoran Institute is warning that unless restoration is undertaken before a prolonged dry spell, which many scientists are predicting, it could be too late.

"In its forthcoming analysis of the delta, the nonprofit Arizona institute paints a dire picture of the once-vibrant ecosystem. But it also puts forth a proposal for replenishing much of the area by replacing a tiny fraction of the river water that once flowed through the delta, saying it would be enough to restore much of the area's natural wealth.

"Under the institute's plan, the delta would get about three-tenths of a percent of the river's historic annual flow, making it one of the more modest claims on a river that serves 30 million people. But even that amount could be a hard sell… "