Melting away in a hot drought
The snowpack that 40 million people rely on for water was supposed to provide a bounty this year. Instead, much of it melted away fast and early — part of a long-term trend associated with climate change.
Video: Selling water
Should Colorado River water be used to grow alfalfa or subdivisions in the Phoenix metropolitan area?
Colorado official says demand management program holds water
At the heart of a potential program is a reduction in water use in an attempt to send up to 500,000 acre-feet downstream to Lake Powell to bolster thereservoir and meet 1922 Colorado River Compact obligations.
Long criticized for inaction at the Salton Sea, California says it’s all-in on effort...
Dust suppression and habitat restoration are key elements in a plan to aid the Salton Sea, whose ills have been a sore point in Colorado River management.
Forest Service flooded with comments opposing Whitney Reservoir, drilling
The vast majority of comments received by the agency opposed the proposed dam and reservoir in Western Colorado.
Hundreds of comments submitted over Holy Cross Wilderness water export proposal
Forty years after the Holy Cross Wilderness Area was created, an effort to explore tapping its water has generated more than 500 public comments.
Colorado regulators’ effort to fast-track Clean Water Act replacement legislation fails
Colorado water quality regulators’ attempt to fast-track new rules shielding streams left unprotected by changes to the Clean Water Act was abandoned earlier this month after it failed to win support from lawmakers.
Colorado’s oldest water rights get extra protection from state engineer
Some water experts say preserving these pre-compact water rights, even though they aren’t being used, could give Colorado stronger footing in potential negotiations with Lower Basin states by propping up Colorado’s consumptive-use tally on paper.
Western Colorado water purchases stir up worries about the future of farming
Part of a series by Aspen Journalism, KUNC, KJZZ and The Nevada Independent exploring how investors are banking on the West’s water scarcity.
As budget crisis envelops Colorado government, funding for water programs shrinks
State lawmakers sought to cut $3.3 billion from water programs to compensate for one of the largest deficits in its history.