An initiative of the Center for Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado Boulder

10 visuals that show how climate change is transforming the West’s snow and water...

The latest National Climate Assessment warns of a shrinking snowpack and serious downstream consequences.
A clear Rocky Mountain stream creates riffles through cobblestone at the base of Mount Sopris

In dry years, Colorado’s Crystal River runs at a trickle — but why?

A historic drought driven by climate change and temperatures that creep ever higher are partly to blame, but the factors that lead to a dry river bed are many.

In $100 million Colorado River deal, water and power collide

The purchase represents the culmination of a decades-long effort to keep Shoshone’s water on the west side of Colorado’s mountains, settling the region’s long-held anxieties over competition with the water needs of the Front Range, where fast-growing cities and suburbs around Denver need more water to keep pace with development.

Why atmospheric rivers can be both harmful and helpful

These "rivers in the sky" can cause catastrophic flooding but are also critical for the West's snowpack

Helpful sites for tracking snow and the (subpar) snowpack

There’s no shortage of websites with maps and graphics visualizing snow forecasts and the state of the snowpack.

Staying safe with the Winter Storm Severity Index

This pragmatic tool from federal forecasters illustrates where snow, ice, and wind can be deadly and disruptive.

What to watch on the Colorado River in 2024

After years of dry conditions throughout the West, 2023 gave the region’s water managers the greatest gift of all: a hefty snowpack. What will 2024 bring?

Billions in federal assistance after New Mexico’s largest wildfire. But little money to repair...

Stream restoration beset by lack of money and workers.

Colorado River crisis — How did the nation’s two largest reservoirs nearly go dry?

Experts cite complicated operating systems, competing government agencies, rigid guidelines and climate change

Colorado squeezing water from urban landscapes

Pace of transition has accelerated, deepened and broadened