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

Photos: Colorado River headwaters flight, October 2019

This photo gallery features images shot during a Lighthawk flight to the Colorado River headwaters and surrounding areas. The flight began at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in Broomfield, proceeded...

Aspen joins water managers using new technologies to map mountain snowpack, predict streamflows

As a changing climate renders streamflow predictions less accurate, water managers are turning to new technologies for a clearer picture of what’s happening in their basin’s snowpack.

Data viz: explore our interactive dashboards for drought, precipitation and snowpack

These maps and visualizations let you interact with vital data on our water supply.
precipitation map ecowest

Map: monthly average precipitation

This map shows total rain and snowfall in the contiguous United States, every month from 1981 to the present. The map's color scale runs from white (no precipitation), to blue (significant precipitation) to red (intense...
Snowpack dashboard screenshot

Map: daily nationwide snowpack

This map shows daily snowpack estimates for the contiguous United States since October 2003. Using the dropdown menu above the chart – or clicking a state on the map...