Colorado River cuts won’t make Phoenix taps go dry, but the backup plan will...

Under the searing desert sun, Max Wilson watched water flow through a canal in north Phoenix. This unassuming strip of blue next to a...

Years of Colorado River talks failed to produce a deal. How much should the...

Two thick, orange, bound books sit on a library table at Colorado State University. “This is the original compilation,” said Patty Rettig, a water resources...

If Colorado River compact heads to Supreme Court, ‘everybody loses,’ experts say

The drama engulfing the seven states in the Colorado River Basin could take another, more perilous turn in a few weeks.   Water experts are warning...

At Glen Canyon Dam, Trump administration privileges hydropower over ecosystems

In the struggling Colorado River basin, where water is scarce, the White House has signaled its priorities for how to use the remaining gallons. Even...

Hoover Dam approaches a hydropower cliff

Some day in the next 12 months – maybe in late-August, maybe not until next spring – Lake Mead will drop below the critical...

Glen Canyon Dam faces its existential moment

PAGE, Ariz. – In the span of U.S. history certain years are turning points, milestones in the nation’s story. 1776. 1865. 1929. 1968. Circumstance...

The driest year revisited: Five takeaways from 2002 for today’s Colorado River

The Colorado River basin has been here before.  This year’s historic winter of low snow might feel novel. But recent years give some insight into...

Less federal pressure, worsening drought, and more interstate tension loom over Colorado River talks

The Colorado River Basin is in crisis.  Climate change is reducing its flow and its biggest reservoirs are shrinking. The seven U.S. states that use...

As deal deadline approaches, Colorado River stewards debate a broad range of options

It’s crunch time for negotiators from seven western states trying to strike a deal before Feb. 14 on how to share the dwindling Colorado...

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...