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

With wildfire-prevention work, Flagstaff seeks to avoid the next devastating flood

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Five large wildfires have burned tens of thousands of acres in the forests around this northern Arizona city in the last 15 years. Monsoon floods after...

As flames scorch western forests, Flagstaff area offers roadmap for post-wildfire flood prevention

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – In July 2022, for the second time in a month, the landscape above the Wupatki Trails neighborhood took a beating.  The first blow was the Pipeline Fire,...

Once a showcase of American optimism and engineering, Hoover Dam faces new power generation...

The long-term drying of the American Southwest poses a gathering and measurable threat to hydropower generation in the Colorado River basin. Should Lake Mead, the reservoir formed by Hoover Dam,...

Data centers a small, but growing factor in Arizona’s water budget

BUCKEYE, Ariz. – It was supposed to be called Cipriani, a master planned community with more than 9,700 homes at the western fringe of this sprawling desert city in...

At Phoenix’s far edge, a housing boom grasps for water

BUCKEYE, Ariz. – Beneath the exhausting Sonoran sun, an hour’s drive west of Phoenix, heavy machines are methodically scraping the desert bare. Where mesquite and saguaro once stood, the former...

Brackish groundwater is no easy water solution for Arizona

Deep below Arizona sit large volumes of water that are less salty than the ocean, but not easily used. If it were all pumped to the surface and purified, this brackish groundwater would supply Arizona’s water needs for a century or more. Problem is, it can’t all be pumped.

Scientists seeking answers about Mars look to the Colorado River’s canyons

Ancient rainstorms may have sculpted the red planet, similar to the monsoon rains that helped shape the Southwest’s landscape.

Some of Arizona’s most valuable water could soon hit the market 

PARKER, Arizona – South of Headgate Rock Dam, beyond riverbanks lined with willow and mesquite, the broad floodplain of the Colorado River spreads across emerald fields and sun-bleached earth.  The...

Does Arizona have enough water? Phoenix-area cities are spending big to make sure it...

Brett Fleck does not have an easy job. He manages water for a city in the desert. He has to keep taps flowing while facing a complicated equation: The...

A Mexican water expert on what Arizona can learn from Hermosillo

As severe water scarcity becomes an increasingly real and dire prospect for Arizona, looking south to Sonora offers important insight.