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

Glen Canyon Dam photo

As Colorado River reservoirs shrink, feds ask for work-arounds for 2022

As drought threatens Colorado River reservoirs' ability to generate hydropower, the Bureau of Reclamation is creating work-arounds.

Special Report: Climate change is sapping Colorado’s water supplies. Can its hallmark water law...

Colorado’s “first-in-time, first-in-right” prior appropriation doctrine is coming under increasing scrutiny as rivers and reservoirs dry out.
Burnt Northern Water land photo

Suburban Marshall Fire stuns Colorado as statewide wildfire protection efforts ramp up

Climate change and the decades-long drought are fueling bigger and more dangerous fires, leaving devastation up and down watersheds.

As winter wildfires burn, will they forever alter Colorado’s forests, water?

Fires in the West burn so intensely that they reshape forests, shift tree species and turn calm waterways into devastating mudflows.

In Vegas, experts eye declining Colorado River flows, electricity woes and federal budget impacts

Millions of dollars are being lost as Lake Powell’s drought-strapped hydropower system fails to produce enough electricity.
NASA researchers in Colorado San Juans photo

Just in time for the holidays, feds offer $500,000 high-tech water contest

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is offering $500,000 for a better tool to measure how much water snowflakes contain.

Special Report: As Lake Powell hits record lows, is filling a new drought pool...

Upper Basin states that created their own drought contingency plan still haven’t agreed on the biggest, most controversial element of the plan.

Questions in North Park as Colorado makes case for new rules to measure water...

As the gap between water supplies and demands narrows in northwestern Colorado, state officials want to ensure that, as best as reasonably can be done, every last drop gets measured and recorded.

West Slope water officials sound alarm on climate change, shrinking water supplies

Colorado West Slope water officials turned up the volume on the call for action around water and climate change, calling it a “train wreck.”
Little Bear Ranch photo

Water planners pray for snow as 2022 forecast shows dry weather ahead

Colorado’s water forecast, already strained by back-to-back drought years, is unlikely to brighten this fall and winter.