Document Type

Report

Publication Date

January 1994

Abstract

This paper considers the risk of drought and develops drough scenarios for use in the study of severe sustained drought in the Southwestern United States. The focus is on the Colorado River gbasin and regions to which Colorado River water is exported, especially southern California, which depends on water from the Colorado River as well as the four major rivers in northern California. Drought scenarios are developed using estimates of unimpaired historic streamflow as well as reconstructions of streamflow based on tree ring widths. Drought scenarios in the Colorado River are defined on the basis of annual flow at Lees Ferry. Possible spatial manifestations of the Colorado River drough scenarios for input into a Colorado River system simualation model are developed by disaggregating the Lees Ferry flow to monthly flows at twenty nine source locations required by the model. The risk, in terms of retun period, of the drough scenarios developed, is assessed using stochastic models applied to both the Colorado River basin and the comvined flow in four major California rivers. The risks of severe sustained drought occurring concurrently in the Colorado River basin and California is also assessed.

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