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

Cities in the West are booming in population. Will they need a lot more...

When researcher Brian Richter set out to take a close look at how big cities in the Western U.S. were adapting to water scarcity, he already knew the story’s...

Floating down the San Joaquin River

The highly altered waterway still harbors stretches of wild beauty.

Photos: North Lake Powell, October 2022

This page features aerial photos of the northern end of Lake Powell in Utah. Lake Powell is the second-largest reservoir in the nation by capacity and began to fill with...
colorado river risk study

Study: Colorado River water crisis could dry out Front Range, West Slope cities and...

If drought and climate change continue to sap the Colorado River, and a legal crisis erupts with downstream states, six of Colorado's eight major river basins could be forced to give up water.

Photos: Navajo Generating Station, Arizona, December 2019

This page features photos of Navajo Generating Station, a large coal-fired power plant near Page, Arizona that was decommissioned in 2019. The power plant was built, in part, to...

Well water throughout California contaminated with ‘forever chemicals’

These chemicals are everywhere. They last forever. They’re expensive to get rid of. And many Californians don’t even know they’re drinking them.

Crystal River restoration finding its footing in Carbondale park

Carbondale and the Roaring Fork Conservancy are finalizing funding to restore a half-mile stretch of the Crystal River and 18 acres of riparian habitat.
Elk Creek Marina photo

Blue Mesa Reservoir releases to prop up Lake Powell impacting recreation

In an effort to prop up water levels at Lake Powell, water managers are negatively impacting recreation on Colorado’s biggest man-made lake. 

As temperatures rise, Arizona sinks

The combination of groundwater pumping and warmer temperatures is shrinking aquifers and lowering water tables in Arizona.

As wildfires grow more intense, California water managers are learning to rewrite their emergency...

Agencies share lessons learned as they recover from fires that destroyed facilities, contaminated supplies and devastated their customers