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

inspectors testa new landscape watering system in Castle Rock

Douglas County Commissioners to head to San Luis Valley for water export meetings

Douglas County Commissioners will travel to Colorado’s San Luis Valley to hear public opinions on exporting farm water to the Front Range.

Feds, 4 Colorado River states unveil draft drought operations plan as 2022 forecast shift

The Bureau of Reclamation and the Upper Basin states have drawn up a proposed framework to create plans to maintain Lake Powell water levels.
Colorado lawmakers have approved a bill to help regions comply with obligations to deliver water to Kansas, Nebraska, Texas and New Mexico.

Bill providing millions in relief to Republican, Rio Grande river basins clears first hurdle

Colorado lawmakers have approved a bill to help regions comply with obligations to deliver water to Kansas, Nebraska, Texas and New Mexico.
Julia Bernal (Sandia, Taos and Yuchi-Creek Nations of Oklahoma) in Sandoval County in the Middle Rio Grande Valley photo

Indigenous feminism flows through the fight for water rights on the Rio Grande

An intergenerational group of Pueblo women lead the way on water policy along the Middle Rio Grande Valley.

When the well runs dry

Nobody knows how much water New Mexico has. Finding out is the best way to ensure survival against drought and climate change.

As the Colorado River shrinks, can the basin find an equitable solution in sharing...

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.
Glen Canyon Dam photo

As Colorado River reservoirs shrink, feds ask for work-arounds for 2022

As drought threatens Colorado River reservoirs' ability to generate hydropower, the Bureau of Reclamation is creating work-arounds.

Special Report: Climate change is sapping Colorado’s water supplies. Can its hallmark water law...

Colorado’s “first-in-time, first-in-right” prior appropriation doctrine is coming under increasing scrutiny as rivers and reservoirs dry out.
Burnt Northern Water land photo

Suburban Marshall Fire stuns Colorado as statewide wildfire protection efforts ramp up

Climate change and the decades-long drought are fueling bigger and more dangerous fires, leaving devastation up and down watersheds.

As winter wildfires burn, will they forever alter Colorado’s forests, water?

Fires in the West burn so intensely that they reshape forests, shift tree species and turn calm waterways into devastating mudflows.