Drought

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

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...

Can Colorado find a fair way to set aside as much as 500,000 acre-feet of water in Lake Powell to protect the state from future drought?

With population growth around Denver prompting fierce competition for water, investors want to import a new supply from the San Luis Valley, but many farmers and ranchers who depend on that water are opposed to the plan.

A new book looks at the Golden State’s history to understand its current water crisis.

Pitkin County is warming, the number of frost-free days is increasing and snowpack is declining—all of which have myriad impacts on life in the Aspen area.

This year, the first-ever Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan is set to launch, and water officials expect 2020 to bring unprecedented changes to the way the river is run, including cutbacks in water use by some states.

Beaver reintroduction and restoration can help with some of the West's most profound water problems, both in terms of quantity and quality. A trial program is underway at Caribou Ranch in Boulder County.

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.

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.