Collection of Research and Datasets on the Colorado River Basin

This page contains a collection of research, dataset, and projects on the Colorado River Basin.  Parts of this work was funded through the US Western Water Institutional Solutions Project.

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map of lower Colorado basin

Upper Colorado River Cooperation and Conflict Event Dataset

For his PhD dissertation research, Nathan Eidem, developed an Events Database for the Upper Colorado River Basin between 1970 and 2005.  The Upper Colorado Events Database is available for download as an excel file

Publications

Through the analysis of the events database, two papers were published that looked at the Colorado River basin as a case study in the context of intranational cooperation and conflict as well as analyzed the social, economic, and environmental aspects of the Upper Colorado River Region from 1970 to 2005.  The work also was captured within Dr. Nathan Eidem's dissertation titled Enhancing Social-Ecological Resilience in the Colorado River Basin, which is available on OSU's Scholar's Archive.

Additional Resources

The Western Water Assessment Team at University of Colorado Boulder is a university-based applied research program that addresses societal vulnerabilities to climate variability and climate change, particularly those related to western water resources - including the Colorado River basin.  Their research on the Colorado River addresses drought, climate change, and management and policy.   It also includes transcripts of the negotiations for the 1922 compact.

Seligman's "Laws of the Rivers" provides an excellent overview of the compacts, treaties, etc. that govern the major rivers in the U.S., including the Colorado.