A recent publication, “Interactive and Multimetric Robustness Tradeoffs in the Colorado River Basin” introduces a novel, interactive framework for stakeholders to identify policies robust to challenging climate futures.

Published in the ASCE Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, December 30, 2023, the paper demonstrates the framework with a case study on reservoir operations in the Colorado River Basin using an open-access web tool created by authors Nathan Bonham, Joseph Kasprzyk, Edith Zagona, & Rebecca Smith.

This paper is one product of an enduring collaboration between CU’s Center for Advanced Decision Support for Water and Environmental Systems (CADSWES), and the Bureau of Reclamation to produce novel methods and tools for Decision Making Under Deep Uncertainty.  The framework, case study, and web tool presented in this research catalyzed many aspects of another web tool Reclamation has since developed in partnership with Virga Labs and CU �鶹ӰԺ, which is being used by stakeholders, Reclamation, and other governmental and nongovernmental agencies for early-stage exploration of operational strategies for the post-2026 NEPA process.

“We are excited about the positive impacts this research and ongoing efforts are having in the Colorado River Basin, and we are hopeful this research will be impactful far beyond the Basin’s boundaries,” says lead author and App inventor, Nathan Bonham.

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CEAE Professors Edie Zagona, Director of CADSWES, and Joseph Kasprzyk joined the CADSWES Reclamation Colorado River modeling team in meeting with the Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation and other Department of Interior officials on September 28 in Washington D.C.

The team gave the Commissioner, Camille Calimlim Touton, updates on the development of a Web App for collaborative decision making that will be deployed for use by stakeholders for the upcoming Environmental Impact Study (EIS) negotiations for new Colorado River operating policies when current policies expire in 2026.  Kasprzyk and Zagona, with their graduate students, led the research and development of the science and methods of decision-making under deep uncertainty that underpin the Web App under research grants from Reclamation.

Zagona briefed the officials on the 30-year collaboration between CU-CADSWES and Reclamation that has developed the tools and analysis capabilities that the government has used to finalize successful agreements with US and Mexico stakeholders. She pointed out the many previous graduate students who are, as Reclamation scientists, leading the technical efforts in this upcoming challenging process on the Colorado River.

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The Bureau of Reclamation released additional 5-year projections based on June 2021 conditions as an ongoing component of the 2019 Drought Contingency Plans for theColorado River Basin.

“The June 5-year projections for the Colorado River System reaffirm this is a serious situation,” said Wayne Pullan, Upper Colorado Basin Regional Director. “We are actively engaged with the Colorado River Basin states and other partners to respond to changing conditions to avoid critical elevations at Lake Powell."

"A key component of Reclamation’s Colorado River Basin activities is the integration of sophisticated modeling tools and scientific research to inform water management decisions. Through a decades-long partnership with the Center for Advanced Decision Support for Water and Environmental Systems at the University of Colorado in �鶹ӰԺ, Reclamation hydrologic engineers and hydrologists are actively collaborating with climate, hydrology and decision support scientists to provide advanced modeling tools. Their work is helping Reclamation link advances in science to water resource management decisions in the face of greater uncertainty and increased hydrologic and operational risks."

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The Bureau of Reclamation held a press conference on September 15, 2020, to present current conditions, projections and the science they are taking into future Colorado River policy negotiations.

Commissioner Brenda Burman and Lower Colorado Regional Director Terry Fulp talked about the long-term collaboration with CADSWES and how our decision support tools have made this possible.

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On October 1–2, 2019, Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman and other Reclamation officials visited CADSWES. CADSWES had the opportunity to review the history of the CADSWES-Reclamation collaborative research and development program that began in 1988 and since then has resulted in scientific, software and decision-making innovations and many graduates who are now outstanding leaders in Reclamation and other water management agencies.

A meet-and-greet lunch event included CU faculty R&D collaborators CADSWES Director Edie Zagona, CEAE Chair Balaji Rajagopalan and Professor Joe Kasprzyk, as well as current graduate students and CADSWES researchers and staff.

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