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

Scientists Warned of a Salton Sea Disaster. No One Listened.

California’s Salton Sea offers a tableau of dead wildlife, toxic dust, and neglect. It was long in the making.

As drought shrinks the Colorado River, a Southern California giant seeks help from river...

Metropolitan Water District's water recycling proposal builds momentum amid increasingly dry conditions.

In an arid U.S. West, water agencies look to delive​r​ purified wastewater directly to...

Western water ​experts are working to not only conserve water, but to also reuse as much wastewater as possible​,​ including ​through direct potable reuse​.​
Salton Sea photo 1

Long troubled Salton Sea may finally be getting what it most needs: action —...

The shrinking desert lake has long been a trouble spot beset by rising salinity and unhealthy dust blowing from its increasingly exposed bed.

Can we save the San Joaquin’s salmon?

The upstream effort to restore a river and its fish.

Tour the San Joaquin River

An interactive map visualizes restoration efforts on the San Joaquin River.

Running out of water and time: How unprepared is California for 2021’s drought?

The most acute problem, experts say, is the lack of controls on groundwater pumping.

In the heart of the San Joaquin Valley, two groundwater sustainability agencies try to...

Agencies in two counties are pursuing different approaches to address overdraft and meet requirements of California’s groundwater law.

The water war in Indian Wells Valley

California pistachio farmers are facing off against the U.S. Navy over water rights. The outcome could shape future legal fights as climate change upends the status quo.

California weighs changes for new water rights permits in response to a warmer and...

As California’s seasons become warmer and drier, state officials are pondering whether the water rights permitting system needs revising.