Colorado River Drought and Shortage

The Central Arizona Project (CAP) was, at the time of its completion in 1993, the largest and most expensive water transfer project ever built in the United States, with a capacity to deliver the state’s single largest renewable water supply. Dubbed central Arizona’s "aquifer rescue plan," the CAP is also one of the state’s most celebrated bipartisan achievements. The scale and significance of the CAP warrant a look back to see where and how its water has been used since the first CAP delivery in 1985.

The Colorado River Basin is experiencing diminished flows in its rivers and streams. This story map explains how satellite data can measure changes in total water storage, a new and efficient means of measuring groundwater changes.

The Arizona Colorado River Visualization Enterprise (CuRVE) is an interactive tool for exploring how Colorado River supplies are used in Arizona, the impacts of Colorado River shortage and water users' options for responding to future cuts in supply. 

Understand how Colorado River supply cuts will impact residential water use, groundwater pumping, utility costs, urban growth and economic development in central Arizona. 

Many cities, Tribes and industries in Maricopa, Pinal and Pima Counties use Colorado River water delivered via the Central Arizona Project canal. These water users face a likelihood of cuts to their Colorado River supplies, but the extent of cuts to any p

Learn the story of Arizona’s water, past and present: where it comes from, how it’s used and what challenges lie ahead. 

The prospect of deeper cuts of Colorado River supplies looms for Arizona water users. This report explains what those cuts will mean for water availability, water prices, growth and the economy. 

This primer discusses the impacts of Colorado River shortages on tap water supplies in Central Arizona to assist stakeholders in assessing measures to adapt to those shortages. 

"Assigned water" -- that is, water banking in Lake Mead -- helps keep up reservoir levels, but it also involves trade-offs. This report explores assigned water and whether it undermines the goal of reducing total Colorado River water use over the long term. 

The Kyl Center’s Central Arizona Shortage Impact Model describes how Colorado River water delivered through the Central Arizona Project canal is allocated under shortage conditions to Colorado River entitlement holders as well as to entities that lease or exchange Colorado River water that belongs to someone else.  Results are presented in acre-feet and represent all Colorado River water available to each entity, be it entitlement, lease, or exchange, under different shortage conditions.