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

Aerial Snowborne Observatories flight photo

Counting every drop: Colorado approves $1.9M for high-tech snow, water measuring program

Colorado has approved a $1.9 million snow measuring initiative that will help forecast how much water mountain snowpack will likely generate.

Colorado Water Plan turns five: Is it working?

Drought, growth, climate change, budget cuts, wildfires and competing demands for water are among the challenges facing the Colorado Water Plan.

Map: Explore drone, aerial and terrestrial imagery from The Water Desk

Use this interactive map to browse our expanding collection of free-to-use photos and videos captured by drones, planes and ground-based photographers.
Arizona Public Media

Video: The vanishing vaquita

Should Colorado River water be used to grow alfalfa or subdivisions in the Phoenix metropolitan area?

Colorado River restoration project crawls forward as some environmental groups call for radical change

The Colorado River Water Conservation District voted to give $1 million of their taxpayer-raised funds to help construct a connectivity channel meant to improve deteriorated conditions at the headwaters of the Colorado River.

A Mexican water expert on what Arizona can learn from Hermosillo

As severe water scarcity becomes an increasingly real and dire prospect for Arizona, looking south to Sonora offers important insight.
Cedar Springs Marina photo

Feds won’t do more emergency water releases to aid Lake Powell after this year

The releases from Flaming Gorge, Blue Mesa and Navajo reservoirs are designed to bolster hydropower production at the ailing Lake Powell.

Photos: Paonia Reservoir, July 2021

This page features drone-captured images of Paonia Reservoir, located in Gunnison County, Colorado. Constructed in 1962, 199-foot Paonia Dam crosses Muddy Creek just upstream from its junction with Anthracite Creek....

A Colorado River leader who brokered key pacts to aid West’s vital water artery...

Terry Fulp, Regional Reclamation Director, urges continued collaboration and cooperation to meet the river's tough water management challenges ahead

Using less of the Colorado River takes a willing farmer and $45 million in...

Wyoming native Leslie Hagenstein lives on the ranch where she grew up and remembers her grandmother and father delivering milk in glass bottles from the family’s Mount Airy Dairy. The...