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

Trees keep a record of Colorado’s Crystal River. Researchers say that story could help...

Tree rings can tell a story. Wide bands signal a wet period, while narrow ones show a drought. Whole ecosystems can be encoded in trees. In Western Colorado, scientists...

Rainfall brings Colorado River drought relief, but concerns for next year’s water supply remain

Heavy autumn rains brought relief to drought-plagued portions of the Southwest, but across the Colorado River basin ongoing water supply concerns still linger amid tense policy negotiations and near...

Zebra mussels threaten infrastructure and native ecosystems. Colorado is ramping up efforts to detect...

On a bluebird day at West and East Lake in Grand Junction, Maddie Baker throws a plankton tow net into the water, and drags it back to her. “This is...

As Gross Reservoir rises, Boulder County residents grapple with project’s legal turmoil

Pieter Strauss used to love hosting stargazing parties at his house in the Lakeshore Park neighborhood up Flagstaff Road southwest of Boulder. The hobbyist astronomer would fire up the...

When flows are low, river recreators seek out new allies and avoid making enemies

What used to be a calm stretch of the Yampa River near Craig, Colorado, now boasts a new set of rollicking whitewater rapids.  They’re not the result of some new...

Colorado communities have spent millions of dollars on whitewater parks. Are they worthwhile?

There’s an old catchphrase that Colorado kayak park proponents used in the early 2000s to sell the idea that keeping water in streams mattered just as much as water...

Colorado has unique protections for river recreation, but do they have enough legal muscle?

David Hajoglou sat on the rocks next to a rushing stretch of river in Golden, Colorado. As he scouted a kayak route through the riffles and waves, he thought...

Photos: Animas River in southwest Colorado, 2022 and 2024

This page in our free multimedia library features photos of the Animas River in southwest Colorado. The images were captured during two trips on the Durango and Silverton Narrow...

Scientists use cosmic rays to study the snowpack

Extraterrestrial particles offer insights into Earth’s mountain water towers

Dwindling water supply, legal questions push Colorado River into ‘wildly uncharted territory’

Time is ticking for states that share the shrinking Colorado River to negotiate a new set of governing rules. One major sticking point, which has the potential to thrust...