From Paloma Avila, Mehdi Nemati, Daniel Crespo, Ariel Dinar, Zachary Frankel, and Nicholas Halberg. Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics
Federal funding has been crucial in addressing the rising water supply and demand imbalance in the Colorado River Basin (CRB). We examine the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) funding allocation trends for 469 projects in the CRB over the last 20 years. Out of the total $1.1 billion (in 2023 dollars) allocated, 40% went to supply expansion, 29% to agriculture, 21% to infrastructure, 8% to municipal, and just 2% to environmental projects. CRB-related projects in California received 49% of these funds. We analyze the cost per acre-foot of water saved across these projects.
