The Colorado River system is the lifeblood of the Southwest, delivering water to 40 million people across the United States and Mexico.
The Colorado River system is the lifeblood of the Southwest, delivering water to 40 million people across the United States and Mexico. Drought and overuse have left the river in crisis—the need for water far exceeds what’s available.
Nearly all water in the 1,450-mile-long river originates from snowmelt in the Upper Colorado River Basin, a region adjacent to arid landscapes that regularly blow dust onto mountain snowpacks. The darker snow absorbs more sunlight, speeds up melting and depletes snowpacks earlier, leaving downstream communities at risk of running dry.
Currently no snowmelt models account for dust, a big problem for water managers who rely on accurate estimates to responsibly allocate water flowing through their districts.
A University of Utah-led study debuts a powerful remote-sensing dataset that informs the timing and magnitude of snow darkening and the impacts on melt rates across the Colorado Basin, in real time. The research is the first to capture how dust effects the broad expanse of headwaters feeding the Colorado River system.
Read more at University of Utah
Photo Credit: Roselie via Pixabay
