Hydropower

Electricity produced at Glen Canyon Dam has been cut in half by the 20-year drought.

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.

In an effort to prop up water levels at Lake Powell, water managers are negatively impacting recreation on Colorado’s biggest man-made lake. 

Glen Canyon Dam, climate change and invasive plant species are threatening the Colorado River.

Communities along the Colorado River are facing a new era of drought and water shortages that is threatening their future. With an official water emergency declaration now possible, farmers, ranchers, and towns are searching for ways to use less water and survive.

As drought and climate change sap the Colorado River, even the water in the Upper Basin’s high-elevation reservoirs isn’t enough to protect the larger system.

Low levels and warming waters threaten to increase invasive species in the Colorado River.

The long-term drying of the American Southwest poses a gathering and measurable threat to hydropower generation in the Colorado River basin. Should Lake Mead, the reservoir formed by Hoover Dam,...

A new agreement calls for Western states to leave their drinking water in the reservoir — and act as if they didn't.

A federal agency aims to offset rising costs linked to Lake Powell’s inability to produce as much hydropower due to drought.