Effects of drought in the Colorado River basin: Chapter F in <i>Drought in the Southwest, 1942-56</i>

Abstract

The prolonged drought of 1942-56 affected chiefly the lower part of the Colorado River basin and did not extend into the upper basin (the chief water-producing area) until1953. Areas served by the Colorado River had adequate water supplies in spite of the local deficiency of precipitation. In the Gila River basin, there was a deficiency of streamflow during the drought years, and the water requirements of the present population exceed the yield of the basin even during years of average precipitation; the deficiency is overcome by mining of ground water.

Substantial Declines in Salinity Observed Across the Upper Colorado River Basin During the 20th Century, 1929–2019

“…15 of 21 followed in the early 1940s by widespread sediment aggradation and floodplain formation as channels stabilized throughout the basin (Hereford, 1987), likely influenced by low peak flows and below-normal average precipitation that occurred in the 1940s and 1950s (Gellis et al, 1991;Hereford, 1984). Such widespread sediment storage in the basin was coincident with decreases in suspended sediment observed at the CR-Cisco, the GR-Green River UT, and the SJ-Bluff sites (Gellis et al, 1991), as well as decreased salt loading observed throughout the UCRB (Kircher et al, 1984;Moody & Mueller, 1984;Thomas et al, 1963). Strong correlation between sediment and dissolved-solids concentrations has been observed in surface runoff in certain areas of the UCRB, demonstrating that soil erosion, sediment yield, and salinity transport processes can be highly related (Cadaret et al, 2016).…”