Annual flows (in million cubic meters) of the Colorado River into the delta from 1905 to 2005 at the Southern International Border station. Note that, in most years after 1960, flows to the delta fell to zero as total withdrawals equaled total (or peak) renewable supply. Gleick and Palaniappan, 2010

Annual flows (in million cubic meters) of the Colorado River into the delta from 1905 to 2005 at the Southern International Border station. Note that, in most years after 1960, flows to the delta fell to zero as total withdrawals equaled total (or peak) renewable supply. The exceptions are extremely high-flow years when runoff exceeded demands and the ability to store additional water (Peter H. Gleick, and Meena Palaniappan, Peak water: Conceptual and practical limits to freshwater withdrawal and use [pdf]. International Boundary Waters Commission data on Colorado River flows at the Southern International Border. Water data from http://www.ibwc.state.gov/wad/DDQSIBCO.htm).

PEAK WATER: New Paper Identifies Limits to Global and Regional Freshwater Availability for Human Use