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

Recreation groups ask for more inclusion in state Water Plan

Colorado’s river recreation community is asking for more recognition in the update to the state’s Water Plan.
Las Vegas photo

As climate change turns up the heat in Las Vegas, water managers try to...

Rising temperatures will drive up water demand as a historic drought in the Colorado River Basin imperils Southern Nevada's key water source.

The Colorado River Is Dying. Can Its Aquatic Dinosaurs Be Saved?

The razorback sucker has survived in the river for more than 3 million years. Climate change could end that.

Upper Colorado River states add muscle as decisions loom on the shrinking river’s future

Upper basin states seek added leverage to protect their river shares amid difficult talks with California and the lower basin

Farmers use the majority of Colorado’s water. Shouldn’t they bear the burden of future...

You’ve heard the news: Farmers and ranchers use roughly 80% of the water in Colorado and much of the American West. So doesn’t it make sense that if growers and...
Kremmling rancher and fly-fishing guide Paul Bruchez photo

Kremmling rancher picked to replace Schwartz on state water board

Gov. Polis has appointed Kremmling rancher Paul Bruchez to replace former state Sen. Gail Schwartz on the Colorado Water Conservation Board.

West Slope water managers ask: What authority do the feds have?

Some Colorado water managers are asking what authority the federal government has in the upper basin and which water projects could be at risk.

Nine Colorado roundtables submit $20.3B in water project lists, ask for public’s input

Colorado communities have identified projects to help ensure there's enough water for the state's people, farms and wildlife.
Liza Mitchell, a natural resource planner and ecologist with Pitkin County, shows off the recent work on a restoration project at a fen on North Star Nature Preserve, on Aug. 26. This fiber mat is plugging an old ditch that drained water from the wetland to the Roaring Fork River.

Pitkin County launches project to restore ancient wetland at North Star Preserve near Aspen

A fen-restoration project aims to enhance the wetland’s ability to provide habitat, store and filter groundwater, and sequester carbon.
A welcome sign in Price reminds residents to save water, Sept. 30, 2025. Consistent messaging is likely one of the reasons Carbon County has become a leading county for conservation in Utah.

Utah has county-by-county water goals. Which ones are hitting them?

One size fits all. That’s great for hats in the Zion National Park gift shop but not for water conservation goals. So at the start of this decade — and...