Colorado

Question 1

What is IWRM?

Answer 1

• Idea advocated in 90s
• Whole basin is treated holistically to protect environmental quality of rivers and ensure maximum efficiency in usage and equitable distribution

Question 2

What are the indicators of IWRM?

Answer 2

• Sustainable management of water resources:
  
  • Groundwater management
  • aquifer storage and recovery/reuse
  • groundwater quality and quantity modelling
• Waterway management
• Use of monitoring technologies
• Integrated urban water management

Question 3

What does waterway management consist of?

Answer 3

• River rehabilitation
• Sustainable water allocation
• Improving waterway health
• Environmental flows
• Waterway structures

Question 4

What is river rehabilitation?

Answer 4

• reversal of hard engineering and river rerouting done previously
• may be done if such changes resulted in increased rates of evaporation and erosion below dam (because less sediment carried further downstream if less water is allowed to flow through dam)
• meanders straightening may not work as planned and not follow intended path
• removal of hard engineering allows rivers to return to natural flood management

Question 5

What is waterway health?

Answer 5

• measure of how healthy a river is
• consists of:
• how well a river supports wildlife and plants
• the chemical composition of water from the rivers
• how many pollutants are present and to what extent

Question 6

What are environmental flows?

Answer 6

• requirements that form part of water resource management
• requires that a minimum amount of water is left in the river to to allow it to be used by ecosystems and human livelihoods

Question 7

What measures are potentially used in IWRM?

Answer 7

• Good and efficient decision making:
  
  • Reducing corruption in relevant authorities
  • Decentralised decision making (more tailor made to a region)
  • Informed planning of water use (eg. Economically)
  • Effective regulation
• Economic sustainability:
  
  • Effective pricing to recover costs
• Social sustainability
  
  • Food security and water security for poor
  • Effective dialogue with users and providers
• Environmental sustainability:
  
  • Environmental protection of all suppliers and ecosystems

Question 8

What is the Colorado Compact?

Answer 8

• Agreement dictating water allocation between states from Colorado River
• Originally signed in 1922
• Redrafted in 1944 to add in Mexico
• Colorado River Storage Project Act of 1956 covered river regulation, HEP production, water rights and irrigation
• are now 29 dams, numerous diversion projects but not enough water

Question 9

What criticism are there surrounding the Colorado Compact?

Answer 9

• By 1990, lower states were using their full allocation and climate was changing
• Allocation was determined based on a period where precipitation was above normal, only getting more inaccurate due to CC
  
  • When signed, 20bn m³/yr was available, now only 16bn m³/yr

Question 10

What issues are present in the upper basin?

Answer 10

• Plentiful water supply results in cheap water prices
• resulted in no incentive to improve inefficient agricultural practices
• 80% of river is used for agriculture

Question 11

What issues are present in the lower basins states?

Answer 11

• California, Nevada and Arizona are growing quickly with use cities, technological hubs and tourism in the middle of deserts
• Wealth inspires innovation, efficiency but have to negotiate water rights with upper states

Question 12

What concerns have been raised regarding the Colorado Compact?

Answer 12

• Indigenous groups have rights to 5% of water
  
  • however in reality they receive less than this as climate change is reducing the total amount of water in the rivers
  • in addition water capitalists have often mistreated indigenous groups in Los Angeles since 1890s
  • thus usually receive less water anyway
• 1944 amendments guaranteed Mexico 1.4 million acre/feet/year of water
  
  • in reality water does not reach the Delta, resulting in mudflats drying up, meaning fishermen are left without an income

Question 13

What advantages does IWRM have?

Answer 13

• Can overcome water conflict
• can be very successful in smaller catchments where groundwater can be replenished
• sine there are usually less stakeholders involved

Question 14

What are the Berlin Rules?

Answer 14

• Water framework approved by ILA (International Law Association) in 2004 to supersede Helsinki Rules
• Produced by European Parliament and UNECE (based in Geneva)
• promoted equitable use across basins and benefits of prior use

Question 15

What does IWRM do?

Answer 15

• Ensures:
• environmental quality of rivers and catchment
• efficient use of water
• equitable distribution of water between stakeholders

Question 16

What are the core principles of the Berlin Rules?

Answer 16

• Coordinated use of water where all stakeholders have a hand in determining how it is done
• Sustainability and minimising environmental harm
• cooperation between parties over shared water resources and prevent trans boundary harm
• all stakeholders have equal status