Autumn Rains Delay Basin-wide Reservoir Depletion
Unusually wet conditions in the Basin in October and November 2025, combined with reduced releases from some reservoirs, led to a basin-wide increase in storage for the two-month period.
Recent Reports
Projects & Partners
Explores alternative Colorado River water supply and river management strategies to develop new tools and approaches by which the river-ecosystem outcomes of water-supply decisions can be considered.
Informal thoughts from John Fleck, journalist, scientist, and thinker. A former science journalist and Professor of Practice in Water Policy and Governance in the University of New Mexico Department of Economics, Fleck is focused on the problems of the Colorado River as an imperiled water source.
A new report "Review of Smallmouth Bass Management in the Colorado River ecosystem" explores potential expansion of the abundance and range of smallmouth bass in the Colorado River ecosystem beyond their present distribution.
Information about the Colorado River and its plumbing system, by Jack Schmidt. May 5, 2025.
About
The Center for Colorado River Studies at Utah State University is a nexus for innovative research, teaching, and outreach that informs management of the Colorado River and other major rivers of the American Southwest. We undertake critical studies that inform how different parts of the Colorado River and its tributaries can be effectively managed, train future researchers and managers who will be responsible for tomorrow's Colorado River, and provide education and training to stakeholders to support informed and focused decision making. Because the water available to restore the Colorado River ecosystem is increasingly limited, we are especially interested in research and outreach to inform the very difficult decisions about priority locations and actions that provide the best opportunity for significant restoration success.
Connect
Lael Gilbert
Outreach Coordinator
lael.gilbert@usu.edu
Join Our Email List
Jack Schmidt
Program Director
jack.schmidt@usu.edu
Data Access
Colorado River Reservoir Storage History (1951-current)
Reservoir History
Recent News
Awaiting the Colorado River 24-Month Study
As we await Friday’s (Aug. 15, 2025) release of the Bureau of Reclamation’s Colorado River 24-Month Study, we need to remember a painful lesson of the last five years of crisis management: whatever you see in Reclamation’s report of the “Most Probable” re...
Summer Update on the Colorado River Water Supply
Water stored in the reservoirs of the Colorado River represents the account balance from which we draw water for use. The amount in the account is especially important during dry times when the demand by water users throughout the Basin exceeds income to ...