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...
Solar growth cushions Colorado River hydropower declines
Lakes Mead and Powell, the basin’s two largest reservoirs, are approaching critical levels in which hydropower from their dams (Hoover and Glen Canyon, respectively) would be severely curtailed or altogether cease.
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...
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...