The Water Budget Navigator: A Comparison Tool for the Colorado River Basin

The Colorado River Basin is experiencing a historic drought. Many states in the basin are facing increasing variability in rain and snow patterns, and municipal water needs and infrastructure are more complex than ever. Given these challenges, state water budgeting is also becoming increasingly complex. To promote transparency and collaboration among CO River Basin States, the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions’ Water Policy Program developed the Water Budget Navigator tool as part of the Internet of Water start-up project. This tool builds on the Internet of Water start-up project’s Coming to Terms tool, which seeks to promote a shared vocabulary of water terminology and tracks definitions, synonyms, and homonyms of water-related terms used by public agencies and private entities. The Water Budget Navigator is a web application that allows users to compare the water budgeting and water use estimation frameworks used by water resources agencies in the Colorado River Basin states (California, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah).