Aridification

Drought and climate change are raising concerns that a century-old compact that divided the river’s waters could force unwelcome cuts in use for the upper watershed.

As the Colorado River withers, a rubber company tries to persuade Arizona farmers to grow a latex-producing crop that’s adapted to arid conditions.

The Colorado River has been dammed, diverted, and slowed by reservoirs, strangling the life out of a once-thriving ecosystem. But in the U.S. and Mexico, efforts are underway to revive sections of the river and restore vital riparian habitat for native plants, fish, and wildlife.

The Drought Contingency Plan for the Colorado River is a historic agreement but it has some serious shortcomings.

By Alexandra Tempus, Fair Warning In 2002, Utah was reeling from four years of dry conditions that turned the state “into a parched tinderbox,’’ as the Associated Press reported at...

Lake Powell faces demands from stakeholders with different water needs as runoff is forecast to decline due to warmer, drier conditions.

The snowpack that 40 million people rely on for water was supposed to provide a bounty this year. Instead, much of it melted away fast and early — part of a long-term trend associated with climate change.

A greenhouse in Colorado is using 95 percent less water to grow food compared to traditional agricultural practices.

With the Southwest locked in a 19-year drought and climate change making the region increasingly drier, water managers and users along the Colorado River are facing a troubling question: Are we in a new, more arid era when there will never be enough water?

The state’s fixation on oil and gas development threatens the Colorado River watershed.