How low can the Colorado River go? A slow float on the 15-mile reach
On a hot and sunny morning in August, a group of nine paddlers pushed their duckies and stand-up paddle boards into the Colorado River at Harky’s boat launch in...
With fields already fallow, Uncompahgre Valley growers adapt to a drier future
New mapping tool prepares district for state conservation program
Peaches pay the bills for Western Colorado farmers, but prolonged drought makes their future...
On a warm morning in Palisade, Colorado, Bruce Talbott walks through his orchards, picking and discarding peaches he knows won’t sell. With just one look, he can tell how...
The clock is ticking for New Mexico to cut Rio Grande water use
Photos by Paul Ratje. Reporting supported by the Water Desk at the University of Colorado Boulder.
HATCH, N.M.—After 13 years, Texas and New Mexico have finally reached a settlement in...
Colorado water officials announce creation of state-run conservation program
In the culmination of a process that has been years in the making, Colorado officials Wednesday announced the creation of a state-run water conservation program.
In what officials are calling...
Colorado River experts say agriculture must make permanent cuts to water use
Water managers say drying up farmland is not the solution
Fish out of water on the Colorado River
With drought and high temperatures putting unprecedented pressure on water users throughout Colorado, from cities to agriculture, there’s one segment that can be affected first — and maybe worst...
The driest year revisited: Five takeaways from 2002 for today’s Colorado River
The Colorado River basin has been here before.
This year’s historic winter of low snow might feel novel. But recent years give some insight into just how dry the West’s...
As the West’s scant snowpack melts, Coloradans brace for a lean water year
Call it the winter that wasn’t.
Throughout Colorado a record-warm and dry winter has come to a close. Attention now pivots to spring and the potential for additional snow to...
Upper Basin states test methods to fill Powell pool
States say automatically turning to agriculture isn’t always reliable