Here’s the release from the Department of Interior. Here’s an excerpt:
“The Colorado River Basin is ground zero for assessing the effects of climate change on our rivers and taking creative management actions to head off the related dangers posed to our water supplies, hydroelectric power generation and ecosystems,” the Secretary said. “We are with you for the long haul to protect our region and its water.”
The Southwest Climate Center is the fourth of eight planned regional Climate Science Centers—or CSCs–to be established by the Department. With the University of Arizona in Tucson as home base, the center will be led by a consortium of that school and others — University of California, Davis; University of California, Los Angeles; Desert Research Institute, Reno; University of Colorado, Boulder; and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego.
More coverage from Amy Joi O’Donoghue writing for the Deseret News. From the article:
Called the Colorado River Basin Geographic Focus Study, the inventory will be conducted by scientific experts within the U.S. Geological Survey.
The study will be conducted over a three-year period and also is intended to provide a platform on how much water is needed to support ecosystems amid significant competition over water resources.
Salazar said the study is part of an ongoing effort outlined in the WaterSMART Secretarial Order signed in February of this year, adding that the last comprehensive assessment of water availability in the country was in 1978.
The USGS WaterSMART initiative will produce a water census for the nation, a new and ongoing appraisal for water availability that links both water quality and quantity. It will track changes in flow, use, and storage of water, as well as develop models and predictive tools to guide decisions.
A relatively new area of science evaluates how much water needs to be left in the streams to support important ecological values. This initiative includes a significant research and assessment effort to help wildlife managers characterize the flow needs for aquatic species and their habitat.
The USGS WaterSMART Colorado River Basin Geographic Focus Study will complement the River Basin Supply and Demand grant awarded for the Colorado Basin by the Bureau of Reclamation in 2010. It is one of three such studies on major river basins across the nation planned to begin this year.
More Colorado River Basin coverage here.