Q&A: Defining the “snow deluge” and projecting its future
Scientist Adrienne Marshall explains why these extreme snow years are expected to decline in our warming world.
Praying for rain
The Zuni tribe's homeland is one of the most parched sections of the country. The tribe has already declared three drought emergencies in the last 15 years. Will it survive the next one?
Photos: Parker Dam, February 2021
This page features photos of Parker Dam, located along the Colorado River on the Arizona-California border.
Built between 1934 and 1938 by the Bureau of Reclamation, Parker Dam is...
The dam nobody wants just won’t go away
Dams can stop the natural flow of sand and silt to the sea—resulting in coastal wetland loss and disappearing beaches—as well as preventing fish from reaching vital spawning grounds.
How much runoff comes from the West’s snowpack?
Snowmelt dominates many Western rivers, but climate change will reduce that contribution as raindrops replace snowflakes.
Colorado places 9th in national water conservation ranking
A new ranking shows Colorado in ninth place nationwide for its water-saving laws and policies, and in fourth place among states in the Colorado River Basin.
Colorado’s water users are told “use it or lose it.” But is the threat...
In December 2020, the Summit County Open Space and Trails Department bought a 15-acre property with a small pond, three ditches and a well.
Known as the Shane Gulch property,...
High stakes standoff
A high stakes standoff is playing out over how to save the Colorado River. And with the biggest man-made reservoir in America — Lake Mead — running dry, time...
Hundreds of comments submitted over Holy Cross Wilderness water export proposal
Forty years after the Holy Cross Wilderness Area was created, an effort to explore tapping its water has generated more than 500 public comments.
Forest Service flooded with comments opposing Whitney Reservoir, drilling
The vast majority of comments received by the agency opposed the proposed dam and reservoir in Western Colorado.