Aridification

Journalist Heather Hansman floated the Green River to explore water issues in the American West, then wrote a fascinating book about her journey.

In the 1960s, Glen Canyon Dam created Lake Powell, the 186-mile-long reservoir intended to store Colorado River flows from the Rocky Mountains. With the flows reduced by drought and...

Once criticized for being a profligate user of water, fast-growing Phoenix has taken some major steps — including banking water in underground reservoirs, slashing per-capita use, and recycling wastewater — in anticipation of the day when the flow from the Colorado River ends.

Cities in New Mexico and Colorado are juggling water scarcity concerns over the Rio Grande.

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

Scientists have a variety of measures of drought, but some are starting to use the term "aridification" to describe the long-term drying of the Southwest.

Southwestern U.S. cities have embraced innovative strategies for conserving and sourcing water in a changing climate.

The Zuni tribe's homeland is one of the most parched sections of the country. The tribe has already declared three drought emergencies in the last 15 years. Will it survive the next one?

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.

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.