Colorado River emergency actions leave root causes of crisis unaddressed
On April 17, the federal government ordered emergency measures to prevent water levels at Lake Powell from falling so low that Glen Canyon Dam, which created the reservoir, could...
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 just how dry the West’s...
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 the river are negotiating cutbacks...
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 River.
But four days of talks...
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...
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.
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...
Saving a river
In the arid Southwest, where water scarcity often divides competing interests, an innovative approach could become the model for future cooperation.
Brad Hicks shows you how a river is being...
Photos: Hite Marina and Lake Powell, October 2022
This page features aerial photos of Hite Marina, the Hite Crossing Bridge, and Lake Powell in southeast Utah.
Lake Powell is the second-largest reservoir in the nation by capacity and...