About The Water Desk
The Water Desk is an independent, nonprofit journalism initiative with three priorities:
The driest year revisited: Five takeaways from 2002 for today’s Colorado River
The Colorado River basin has been here before.
This year’s historic winter of low snow might feel novel. But recent years give some insight into just how dry the West’s...
As the West’s scant snowpack melts, Coloradans brace for a lean water year
Call it the winter that wasn’t.
Throughout Colorado a record-warm and dry winter has come to a close. Attention now pivots to spring and the potential for additional snow to...
Upper Basin states test methods to fill Powell pool
States say automatically turning to agriculture isn’t always reliable
Latest multimedia content
Our multimedia content is available for free reuse by journalists and others under a Creative Commons license. Questions? Please contact us at waterdesk@colorado.edu
Resources
We've produced and collected resources to help you learn more about Western water issues.
Materials for SEJ Chicago, April 2026
hands-on workshop
Downloading, Reformatting and Visualizing EPA Drinking Water Data
Materials for the Society for Environmental Journalists conference in Chicago on April 15, 2026.
InstructionsSlidesData...
Cases, agreements and treaties
The legal intricacies of Western water can be difficult to wade through. This timeline offers an introduction to some key cases, agreements and treaties....
Resources: Background readings
Browse our background reading resources.
Colorado River Basin
Helpful online resources for learning more about the Colorado River Basin.
1922 Colorado River Compact
1922 Colorado River Compact Meeting...
Glossaries
It’s hard to understand water issues unless you know the lingo. Here are some helpful water-related glossaries on the web:
The U.S. Geological Survey's Dictionary...
Water books
Want to go deep and really learn about water issues? Here's a list of great nonfiction books on (Western) water issues, curated by Mitch...
Media and journalism
On this page you'll find a guide to water media and examples of great water journalism. Have a suggestion for a story or outlet...