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

Farms use 80% of the West’s water. Some in Colorado use less, a lot...

A greenhouse in Colorado is using 95 percent less water to grow food compared to traditional agricultural practices.

Harvesting water in arid lands – Water Buffs Podcast ep. 11 – Brad Lancaster

Brad Lancaster, author and expert on water harvesting, explains how to make the most of rainfall and greywater to stretch local supplies.

Farmers can save water with wireless technologies, but there are challenges – like transmitting...

New technology can reduce water demand for irrigation by anywhere from 20% to 72% without hampering daily operations.
Cloud seeding equipment near Winter Park in Colorado photo

Cloud seeding might not be as promising as drought-troubled states hope

Several western states have experimented with cloud seeding to increase precipitation, but it may not be a promising strategy.
NASA researchers in Colorado San Juans photo

Just in time for the holidays, feds offer $500,000 high-tech water contest

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is offering $500,000 for a better tool to measure how much water snowflakes contain.
Yampa River photo

Steamboat looks to new program to address high river temperatures

Steamboat Springs is trying to comply with state regulations and also cool down chronically high temperatures in an impaired stretch of the Yampa River.
Yampa River photo

Tri-State, Xcel, Colorado eye Yampa River water for “green hydrogen” projects

The Yampa Valley’s existing coal-fired plants have strong water portfolios that could be used to create green hydrogen or another storage technology called molten salt.

Crop-switching in the megadrought

Farmers in Arizona are hoping that guayule, a hardy plant that produces natural rubber, can become a profitable crop requiring far less water than alfalfa, corn and cotton. Gary...

Snow can disappear straight into the atmosphere in hot, dry weather

Scientists are exploring how droughts can lead to chronically dry soil that sucks up more water than normal in the American West.

Corporate support for the river

For decades, water managers and environmentalists have worked to keep a critical stretch of the drought-stressed Colorado River healthy enough to support endangered fish. This year, they’re getting a...