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
Colorado has big dreams to use more water from the Colorado River. But will...
The site where Ute Water plans to build Owens Creek Reservoir at 8,200 feet on the Grand Mesa was snow covered by mid-November. The Western Slope’s largest domestic water...
Brackish groundwater is no easy water solution for Arizona
Deep below Arizona sit large volumes of water that are less salty than the ocean, but not easily used.
If it were all pumped to the surface and purified, this brackish groundwater would supply Arizona’s water needs for a century or more. Problem is, it can’t all be pumped.
Tip sheet: monitoring the West’s snowpack
What’s the current state of the snowpack? How have conditions changed over the season?
Climate change and the snowpack: an annotated bibliography
How is climate change affecting the West’s snowpack? What are the projections for the future?
Numerous scientific reports and studies in recent years have tried to answer these questions and...
Denver Water is halfway through replacing lead pipes. Why didn’t this happen sooner?
On an early morning, a quiet Denver neighborhood was temporarily transformed into a construction zone. A boring machine on the road outside someone’s home pointed a long, thin drill...
Holding out hope on the drying Rio Grande
Reporting supported with a grant from The Water Desk at the University of Colorado Boulder's Center for Environmental Journalism. Aerial photography support provided by LightHawk.
FAR WEST TEXAS—The year was...
Post-fire study finds snowpack melts earlier
Loss of forest canopy and deposition of ash alter forest hydrology
Can New Mexico’s Ancient Water System Survive Climate Change?
Traditional irrigation canals, or acequias, could help balance the water supply during droughts — if they are protected.