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

Utah’s Suicide Pact With the Fossil Fuel Industry

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

Drought threatens coal plant operations — and electricity — across the West

The very plants whose emissions help drive climate change are at risk of shutdowns because the water they need to operate has fallen to unprecedented levels.

Blue Mesa is threatened by a two-decade-long drought and downstream obligations

Experts say it will take a lot more than one snowy winter to refill the reservoir. 
This photo from December 2021 shows one of the intake towers at Hoover Dam. Federal officials said basin states must conserve 2 to 4 million acre-feet to protect reservoir levels in 2023. CREDIT: HEATHER SACKETT/ASPEN JOURNALISM

Race is on for Colorado River basin states to conserve before feds take action

Seven states in the West have been given until August 15th to implement new strategies and tools to conserve the Colorado River.
Hoover Dam photo

Hydropower’s future is clouded by droughts, floods and climate change – it’s also essential...

As competition for water increases, the way hydropower is managed within regions and across the power grid in the U.S. will have to evolve.