Legal

Managing how water moves from one side of the Continental Divide to the other requires cautious timing and accurate forecasting.

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.

It's unclear whether a new law could improve water quality in the Eagle River Village park, but legislators want to pressure owners to do more.

Though many agricultural interests and water utilities support the new Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule, as it is known, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and Patrick Pfaltzgraff, director of the state’s Water Quality Control Division, said they will take legal action to protect streams that are no longer subject to federal oversight.

With talks looming on a new operating agreement for the river, a debate has emerged over the best approach to address its challenges.

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.

The Trump administration's new rule ends federal protection under the Clean Water Act for many small streams and wetlands. But a scientist argues these are critical parts of river systems.

Former journalist Nancy Vogel explains how the draft California Water Resilience Portfolio came together and why it’s expected to guide future state decisions

With the Southwest locked in a 19-year drought and climate change making the region increasingly drier, water managers and users along the Colorado River are facing a troubling question: Are we in a new, more arid era when there will never be enough water?

Are junior water rights to an oversubscribed river enough to justify two reservoirs on a farm? One Colorado rancher is about to find out.