(87c) Water Footprint of Rio Grande River Basin

Water resource management at the scale of river basin is extremely critical for the sustainability of rural agrarian systems. Most agrarian systems are characterized by water stress and depleting water table. This is primarily due to unsustainable extraction and use of ground water and surface water for irrigation. In this presnetation we outline our work related to the development of water footprint metric for the San Luis Basin in south central Colorado. We will present data collection, modeling and water footprint calculations for the regional system. In addition, we will discuss long term implications related to water sustainability in this region through scenario analysis. Finally, we will review a systems framework where water footprint along with other sustainability metrics is utilized to analyze the overall sustainability of regional systems at the scale of river basin.