The driest year revisited: Five takeaways from 2002 for today’s Colorado River
The Colorado River basin has been here before.
This year’s historic winter of low snow might feel novel. But recent years give some insight into just how dry the West’s...
As the West’s scant snowpack melts, Coloradans brace for a lean water year
Call it the winter that wasn’t.
Throughout Colorado a record-warm and dry winter has come to a close. Attention now pivots to spring and the potential for additional snow to...
In burned forests, the West’s snowpack is melting earlier
As blazes expand to higher elevations, the impacts cascade downstream
With wildfire-prevention work, Flagstaff seeks to avoid the next devastating flood
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Five large wildfires have burned tens of thousands of acres in the forests around this northern Arizona city in the last 15 years. Monsoon floods after...
As flames scorch western forests, Flagstaff area offers roadmap for post-wildfire flood prevention
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – In July 2022, for the second time in a month, the landscape above the Wupatki Trails neighborhood took a beating.
The first blow was the Pipeline Fire,...
In New Mexico, Partners Collaborate to End Siege from Megafires
Initiative in the Rio Grande basin intends to thwart catastrophic wildfires that wreck watersheds.
Special Report: Inside the toxic link between Colorado’s wildfires and its water
Megafires triggered by drought and climate change have ravaged major Colorado water systems, and recent snowmelt will only make things worse.
East Troublesome Fire could cause water-quality impacts for years
The Colorado fire grew 100,000 acres in 24 hours, eventually becoming the second-largest wildfire in the state’s recorded history.
Glenwood Springs gets $8 million loan for water-system upgrades following Grizzly Creek Fire
Glenwood Springs received approval for a loan of up to $8 million from the state to upgrade its water system to deal with the impacts from the Grizzly Creek Fire.
The surprising connection between West Coast fires and the volatile chemicals tainting America’s drinking...
Manufactured substances known as volatile organic compounds contaminate drinking water around the U.S. — and recent wildfires are making the situation worse.