Geography in the Social Studies: High School Simulation on Water Supply

Abstract

This is a ready-to-use simulation that has high school students portraying all of the key players that decide how water from the Colorado River will be allocated. Students act as judges, lobbyists, news analysts, and even protesters during a mock water conference. Water supply is promised beyond nature's delivery, so the problem is real and will probably intensify in light of global climate change forecasts. The simulation addresses several geography standards.

Key Words:

• Colorado River
• water allocation
• simulation

Acknowledgments

The author is grateful to the undergraduate students of the University of Northern Colorado who tested this simulation over four years and provided valuable feedback on its structure and contents. The manuscript was refined with important feedback from the reviewers.

James M. Dunn is an assistant professor of geography at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colorado, and is a founding member of the Colorado Geographic Alliance.

Notes

∗a.f. means acre-foot (1 a.f. = 325,851 gallons of water).

1. All materials for this simulation are available for download by contacting the author by email.

2. A selection of digital photos is available for use by contacting the author. Show each image and let students make observations about what appears to be natural, altered, or otherwise important to the issue of water in the West. Images convey a great deal about climate, vegetation, human use, changes, and even problems.