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
Scientists use simple cameras to answer complex questions about forests and the snowpack
“Snowtography” captures how the snowpack can vary dramatically across short distances
High and Dry
Utah’s immense Great Salt Lake has receded in recent years, revealing the microbial reefs crucial to its ecosystem.