loading page

The Second Century Drought in the Upper Colorado River Basin
  • +2
  • Connie Woodhouse,
  • Cody Routson,
  • David Meko,
  • Subhrendu Gangopadhyay,
  • Gregory McCabe
Connie Woodhouse
University of Arizona, University of Arizona, University of Arizona

Corresponding Author:conniew1@email.arizona.edu

Author Profile
Cody Routson
Northern Arizona University, Northern Arizona University, Northern Arizona University
Author Profile
David Meko
University of Arizona, University of Arizona, University of Arizona
Author Profile
Subhrendu Gangopadhyay
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Denver, Colorado, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Denver, Colorado, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Denver, Colorado
Author Profile
Gregory McCabe
U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado
Author Profile

Abstract

Evidence based on sparse tree-ring data suggests a severe sustained drought occurred in the 2nd century CE that could have rivaled medieval period droughts in the Colorado River basin (Gangopadhyay et al. 2022). Most of these tree-ring data have been used in gridded drought reconstructions (Cook et al., 2010) which extend back to 1 CE over an area that includes the intermountain western US. However, the 2nd century drought has not been highlighted in prior studies given the sparseness of the data available for this time period. A new reconstruction of Colorado River flow based on these data documents a notably severe and sustained drought over much of the 2nd century (Gangopadhyay et al. 2022). While this reconstruction suggests that the drought exceeds the severity and duration of any drought in the past 2000 years, a complete assessment of the 2nd century drought is challenging due to the sparseness of data. In this poster presentation, we describe the tree-ring data available, along with other proxy data that provide evidence for the 2nd century drought and support its severity. In our conclusions, we discuss outstanding questions and thoughts for further work.