The Law of the Colorado River: Coping with Severe Sustained Drought, Part II

Abstract

This article updates an earlier article on the Law of the Colorado River in the context of severe sustained drought. It provides a summary of the hierarchy of use rights put in place by the Law of the River to make more explicit how severe sustained drought affects and limits uses. It then updates the previous discussion of the Law of the River, summarizing additions to the Law since 1995. Finally, it considers how well the basin’s legal and institutional framework responded to the challenges of two decades of drought and reflects on the challenges ahead.

Keywords: Colorado River, Law of the River, severe sustained drought, water uses, water shortages, Colorado River Compact, Boulder Canyon Project Act, Treaty with Mexico, Upper Colorado River Basin Compact, Colorado River System Projects Act, Colorado River Basin Storage Act, Interim Guidelines, Drought Conti

JEL Classification: K39