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

Long-distance water

There’s desperation in the desert – for communities that could run out of water if the Colorado River keeps shrinking from overuse and climate change. Many are now looking...

As climate change and overuse shrink Lake Powell, the emergent landscape is coming back...

Lake Powell’s decline offers an opportunity to recover the landscape at Glen Canyon, but it also presents serious challenges.

Calls grow for statewide water conservation standards; some cities skeptical

With a warming climate continuing to rob streams and rivers of their flows, talk in Colorado has resumed about how to limit growing water demand for residential use.

High stakes standoff

A high stakes standoff is playing out over how to save the Colorado River. And with the biggest man-made reservoir in America — Lake Mead — running dry, time...

A new strategy for western states to adapt to long-term drought: Customized water pricing

Rather than raising everyone’s water prices, we propose a customized approach that lets individual consumers decide whether to pay higher prices.

A Colorado River flows drop and tensions rise, water interests struggle to find solutions...

Experts warn that climate change has rendered old assumptions outdated about what the Colorado River can provide, leaving painful water cuts as the only way forward.

Water trouble in Rio Verde Foothills

An Arizona community may be ground zero for climate change in America. The Colorado River basin is in crisis — its reservoirs are running dry. Brad Hicks shows you...

Scientists studying water supply focus on weeks following peak snowpack

Water managers in the Colorado River Basin are gaining a better understanding that what happens in the weeks after peak snowpack.

Las Vegas water

The Las Vegas area has taken several effective steps to conserve water, with more efforts on the way. Brad Hicks of public broadcasting’s This American Land reports.   Length: 2:00 Download script Download full-resolution...

Deadline passed

The seven states failed to meet a federal deadline of February 1st to agree on a plan to use less water from the Colorado River. Brad Hicks of the...