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

Photos and videos: Arkansas River, Colorado, March 2021

This page features ground-based and drone-captured photos and videos of the Arkansas River in central Colorado. The Arkansas River begins near Leadville, Colorado and travels nearly 1,500 miles until it...

Gunnison River water agencies win $340,000 in federal drought grants, launch contingency planning

The Bureau of Reclamation gives funding through its WaterSMART program to five Western states to help combat drought and infrastructure issues.
Streets are empty in Central City, with casinos shuttered and hundreds of workers laid off. The pandemic is bad news for the state's new sports-betting tax, which was to have helped fund the Colorado Water Plan. April 21, 2020. Credit: Jerd Smith

New gambling tax revenue forecasts in free fall; cash for water plan in limbo

It’s hard to generate money from a sports-betting tax when COVID-19 has removed athletes from the fields, courts and stadiums where they normally play.

Rafting season ready to launch, but COVID-19 worries running high

Colorado’s virus-related restrictions are forcing commercial rafting companies to create social distance on unruly rivers and face the potential for smaller crowds.

Navajo water

Many residents on the Navajo Reservation are now enjoying clean, running water and solar power in their homes, benefiting from DigDeep’s ambitious project to transform their daily lives with...

The Great Drenching

How did California get battered by a relentless barrage of devastating atmospheric river storms despite La Niña?

State officials draft bill on stream restoration

Colorado officials have drafted a bill aimed at addressing a tension between stream restoration projects and water rights holders.

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...

Troubled waters

Confronted with the specter of a New Mexico parched by climate change, some have begun to push back against a water model that focuses primarily on putting as much water to use as possible.

Colorado eyes foreclosure against troubled Pueblo water company with $1.4 million in delinquencies

An Arkansas Valley watercompany has left the State of Colorado on the hook for nearly $1.4 million and may face a rare foreclosure proceeding by the Colorado Water Conservation Board as a result.