At Phoenix’s far edge, a housing boom grasps for water
BUCKEYE, Ariz. – Beneath the exhausting Sonoran sun, an hour’s drive west of Phoenix, heavy machines are methodically scraping the desert bare.
Where mesquite and saguaro once stood, the former...
Colorado has big dreams to use more water from the Colorado River. But will...
The site where Ute Water plans to build Owens Creek Reservoir at 8,200 feet on the Grand Mesa was snow covered by mid-November. The Western Slope’s largest domestic water...
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...
Colorado’s water users are told “use it or lose it.” But is the threat...
In December 2020, the Summit County Open Space and Trails Department bought a 15-acre property with a small pond, three ditches and a well.
Known as the Shane Gulch property,...
Unanswered questions: New Mexico looks to fossil fuel byproduct to ease pressure on freshwater...
Mario Atencio’s family never received a notification that 1,100 barrels of produced water—a byproduct of oil and gas extraction—had spilled on their allotment in February 2019 near Counselor, New...
Using less of the Colorado River takes a willing farmer and $45 million in...
Wyoming native Leslie Hagenstein lives on the ranch where she grew up and remembers her grandmother and father delivering milk in glass bottles from the family’s Mount Airy Dairy.
The...
Amid a withering drought, New Mexico leaders struggle to plan for life with less...
New Mexico faces tough choices as a dire and historic drought continues and the Rio Grande is unable to give everyone what they want or need.
Colorado River farm fallowing pilot moves forward, with approvals slated for next month
Farmers and ranchers in Colorado have submitted proposals to help restore the Colorado River, but the impacts remain uncertain.
Urban Water Conservation Success in the Colorado River Basin
In the past few decades, cities in Arizona, Colorado, and Nevada have vastly increased their water use efficiency. They’ve also learned lessons that can inform other cities’ efforts.
State officials draft bill on stream restoration
Colorado officials have drafted a bill aimed at addressing a tension between stream restoration projects and water rights holders.