Comparison of U.S. Geological Survey and Bureau of Reclamation water-use reporting in the Colorado River Basin

Abstract

For more information on the USGS-the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment-visit https://www.usgs.gov or call 1-888-ASK-USGS.For an overview of USGS information products, including maps, imagery, and publications, visit https://store.usgs.gov.Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.Although this information product, for the most part, is in the public domain, it also may contain copyrighted materials as noted in the text. Permission to reproduce copyrighted items must be secured from the copyright owner. AbstractThe use of water in the United States is arguably one of the most important factors determining water availability at any specific place and time. Numerous local, State, and Federal entities develop, compile, and report water-use data, which can lead to confusing or conflicting information. This report was authored jointly by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) to compare and contrast the two agencies' water-use information programs in the Colorado River Basin. The report also describes the legal drivers for each program, clarifies confusing terminology, compares the methods used, and contrasts the information reported by each agency. This detailed comparison demonstrates that these two Federal agencies have different missions, different programmatic drivers, and different user communities, all of which lead to different approaches to water-use data collection, analysis, and reporting. This report highlights those differences and explains why the USGS and Reclamation programs exist and how the data serve different user communities. Even though the two water-use programs are different by design and purpose, the program comparison presented in this report has identified opportunities for closer coordination and sharing of information between the USGS and Reclamation, as well as program components where agency collaboration can improve water-use estimate methodologies. This comparison effort emphasizes that it is incumbent upon each agency to clearly define the meaning of the terms used and the appropriate application of the reported information to avoid confusion or the accidental misuse of the information. An additional benefit of this comparison effort is the formation of a joint USGS/ Reclamation water-use team that will continue to investigate opportunities to expand and coordinate future water-use data compilation and reporting.

The Fifth Stage in Water Management: Policy Lessons for Water Governance

“…Therefore, failure to properly account for total water use may mean that current actual water use is already on an upward trend—consistent with our earlier example. The MDBA could learn from experiences in the Colorado River Basin where field surveys and mapping, remote sensing, and return flow calculations are used to account for water use and returns (see Bruce et al, 2019). However, an exploration of the economic incentives behind illegal resource extractions—and the relevance of effective enforcement—underpins the broader policy design and implementation discussion above.…”

The Colorado River water crisis: Its origin and the future

“… a Consumptive uses are those reported by Reclamation in Colorado River System Consumptive Uses and Losses Reports, Upper Colorado River Basin Consumptive Uses and Losses Reports, and Colorado River Accounting and Water Use (Arizona, California, and Nevada) Reports, all available at https://www.usbr.gov/uc/envdocs/plans.html or https://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/g4000/wtracct.html. Agricultural consumptive use is calculated by Reclamation as diversions minus return flows (Bruce et al, 2018). Lower Basin uses do not include those in Colorado River tributaries. …”

Green Light for Adaptive Policies on the Colorado River

“…Neither dataset includes evaporation calculations. It should be noted that there are several different methods of calculating consumptive use of water and that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's calculations, on which these numbers are based, are not uniformly accepted by the Colorado River Basin States [31]. )…”