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Colorado River Insights, 2025: Dancing with Deadpool

Annie Carlozzi — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 20:46:16 +0000

Colorado River Insights, 2025: Dancing with Deadpool Annie Carlozzi Wed, 12/03/2025 - 13:46

In a collection of essays and research summaries, eleven members of the Colorado River Research Group (with eight guest contributors) touch on issues as diverse as plummeting reservoir storage, climate change trends, risk management, agricultural water conservation, equity, and governance, all against the backdrop of the need to fashion post-2026 reservoir operating rules.

Download the report here:
Colorado River Insights, 2025: Dancing with Deadpool

Chapter 1. Colorado River Reservoir Storage – Where We Stand
Jack Schmidt, Anne Castle, John Fleck, Eric Kuhn, Kathryn Sorensen, and Katherine Tara

Chapter 2. Think Natural Flows Will Rebound in the Colorado River Basin? Think Again.
Jonathan Overpeck and Brad Udall

Chapter 3. The Erosion of the Colorado River “Safety Nets” is Alarming
Doug Kenney

Chapter 4. Water Equity in the Colorado River Basin
Bonnie Colby and Zoey Reed-Spitzer

Chapter 5. The Tale of Three Percentage-Based Apportionment Schemes
Eric Kuhn

Chapter 6. A Humbly Proffered Proposal to Aid the Colorado River System: Conservation Easements & Land Purchases
Kathryn Sorensen and Sarah Porter

Chapter 7. Facing the Future: Can Agriculture Thrive in the Upper Basin with Less Water?
Kristiana Hansen, Daniel Mooney, Mahdi Asgari, and Christopher Bastian

Chapter 8. Towards a Basinwide Entity: Moving from Vision to Action
Matthew McKinney, Jason Robison, John Berggren, and Doug Kenney

Contributors

Colorado River Research Group (CRRG) Members

Bonnie Colby, Professor, University of Arizona.

John Fleck, Writer in Residence, Utton Transboundary Resources Center, University of New Mexico.

Kristiana Hansen, Professor, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Wyoming.

Doug Kenney, Director, Western Water Policy Program, Getches-Wilkinson Center, University of Colorado Law School; and Chair, Colorado River Research Group.

Eric Kuhn, Retired General Manager, Colorado River Water Conservation District.

Matthew McKinney, Co-director, Water & Tribes Initiative; Senior Fellow, Center for Natural Resources & Environmental Policy, University of Montana; Fulbright Specialist 2025-2027.

Jonathan Overpeck, Dean, School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan.

Jason Robison, Professor of Law and Co-Director, Gina Guy Center for Land & Water Law, University of Wyoming.

Jack Schmidt, Director, Center for Colorado River Studies, Utah State University, and former Chief, Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center.

Kathryn Sorensen, Kyl Center for Water Policy, Arizona State University; and former Director, Phoenix Water Services.

Brad Udall, Senior Water and Climate Research Scientist/Scholar, Colorado Water Center, Colorado State University.

Guest Contributors

Mahdi Asgari, Postdoctoral Scholar, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Wyoming.

Christopher Bastian, Professor, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Wyoming.

John Berggren, Regional Policy Manager, Western Resource Advocates.

Anne Castle, Senior Fellow, Getches-Wilkinson Center, University of Colorado Law School; former US Commissioner, Upper Colorado River Commission; and former Assistant Secretary for Water and Science, US Department of the Interior.

Daniel Mooney, Associate Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Colorado State University.

Sarah Porter, Director, Kyl Center for Water Policy, Arizona State University.

Zoey Reed-Spitzer, Research Assistant, North Carolina State University (formerly University of Arizona).

Katherine Tara, Staff Attorney, Utton Transboundary Resources Center, University of New Mexico.

Download the report here:
Colorado River Insights, 2025: Dancing with Deadpool

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The 1922 Compact is Now the Obvious Elephant in the Negotiating Room

Annie Carlozzi — Tue, 07 Oct 2025 16:39:27 +0000

The 1922 Compact is Now the Obvious Elephant in the Negotiating Room Annie Carlozzi Tue, 10/07/2025 - 10:39

Eric Kuhn , Anne Castle , John Fleck , Kathryn Sorensen , Jack Schmidt , Katherine Tara

The Colorado River system is inching closer and closer to the “tripwire” in the 1922 Compact. This is the requirement that a specified volume of water pass Lee Ferry, the dividing point between the Upper and Lower Basins, every ten years. Declining flows and depletion of reservoir storage reserves, as well as the need to protect the Infrastructure of Glen Canyon Dam, are challenging our ability to operate the river system in a way that both preserves critical levels in Lakes Powell and Mead and avoids triggering the tripwire. This new paper by CRRG members Eric Kuhn, John Fleck, Jack Schmidt and Kathryn Sorensen, in collaboration with Anne Castle and Katherine Tara explains the issues, runs the numbers, and explains the conclusions. The only solution to this unavoidable conflict is a negotiated agreement among the seven Colorado River Basin states.

Read the full paper here.

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Analysis of Colorado River Basin Storage Suggests Need For Immediate Action

Annie Carlozzi — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 16:49:45 +0000

Analysis of Colorado River Basin Storage Suggests Need For Immediate Action Annie Carlozzi Thu, 09/11/2025 - 10:49

Jack Schmidt , Anne Castle , John Fleck , Eric Kuhn , Kathryn Sorensen , Katherine Tara

Water consumption in the Colorado River Basin continues to outstrip natural supply, causing steep declines in reservoir storage. This paper by CRRG members Jack Schmidt, John Fleck, Eric Kuhn, and Kathryn Sorensen, in collaboration with Anne Castle and Katherine Tara, looks at the realistically accessible amount of storage in Lake Powell and Lake Mead and what happens if next year is the same as this year in terms of inflow and uses. The resulting picture is grim. In order to avoid extremely low reservoir reserves at the outset of the next set of operating guidelines, and the corresponding constraints on water use going forward, the prudent course of action is to reduce use immediately.

Read the full paper here.

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Colorado River Insights, 2025: Dancing with Deadpool

Download the report here: Colorado River Insights, 2025: Dancing with Deadpool

Contents

Contributors

Download the report here:Colorado River Insights, 2025: Dancing with Deadpool

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The 1922 Compact is Now the Obvious Elephant in the Negotiating Room

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Analysis of Colorado River Basin Storage Suggests Need For Immediate Action

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Download the report here:
Colorado River Insights, 2025: Dancing with Deadpool

Download the report here:
Colorado River Insights, 2025: Dancing with Deadpool