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

Scientists use cosmic rays to study the snowpack

Extraterrestrial particles offer insights into Earth’s mountain water towers

Taking stock of the spring snowpack

Maps and charts visualize conditions at the April 1 milestone

Data centers a small, but growing factor in Arizona’s water budget

BUCKEYE, Ariz. – It was supposed to be called Cipriani, a master planned community with more than 9,700 homes at the western fringe of this sprawling desert city in...

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...

9 graphics that visualize EPA’s climate change indicators for snow

The downward trajectory for snow carries serious consequences for water supplies, wildlife habitat, wildfire activity and outdoor recreation.

Rain or snow? Observers help scientists understand wintry weather

With a free app, volunteers gather crucial data on what type of precipitation is falling

As Colorado ramps up PFAS drinking water tests, small towns brace for costly fixes

Renee Hoffman was never thrilled about the water quality at her house in Sleepy Bear Mobile Home Park on the outskirts of Steamboat Springs. “It just didn’t taste great,” she...

At Phoenix’s far edge, a housing boom grasps for water

BUCKEYE, Ariz. – Beneath the exhausting Sonoran sun, an hour’s drive west of Phoenix, heavy machines are methodically scraping the desert bare. Where mesquite and saguaro once stood, the former...

Wyoming’s Colorado River water rights in jeopardy without improved info, official warns

Wyoming’s water chief wants emergency funds for hydrologists to measure flows in the state’s portion of the troubled Colorado River Basin, documentation he said is vital to preserving irrigation...

An illustrated glossary of snow-related terms

Learn the lingo of the cryosphere