A Drought Trinity in the Upper Colorado River Basin

Residents of Colorado’s Grand Valley are profoundly lucky to nestle up to the Colorado River, and to receive our drinking water from the largest flattop mountain in the world, the Grand Mesa. However, the ability to drink, grow food and thrive in this arid landscape is dependent on the snowpack that blankets our high Rocky Mountain peaks and the regional climate more broadly. Warming temperatures that produce longer, more intense droughts are threatening our way of life, making it harder to manage water resources and plan for the future. The artwork created in this study reflects a 21st century perspective of natural water supplies in the Upper Colorado River Basin with a focus on three types of drought: meteorological, hydrological and snow.