Issues

Voluntary agreements in California have been touted as an innovative and flexible way to improve environmental conditions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and the rivers that feed it. The goal is to provide river flows and habitat for fish while still allowing enough water to be diverted for farms and cities in a way that satisfies state regulators.

Ouray County is asking the state water board to delay a court filing designed to protect streamflows and resolve issues in a related case.

Changing storms in the Southwest are altering timeless food traditions as researchers grapple with how to study the monsoon’s erratic nature.

Upper Basin states that created their own drought contingency plan still haven’t agreed on the biggest, most controversial element of the plan.

The city of Aspen is moving ahead on a project aimed at increasing the reliability of its water supply and environmental flows through what’s known as an “alternative transfer method,” or ATM.

Colorado's Pitkin County is grappling with higher temperatures, declining streamflows and drier soils caused by climate change.

Deep below Arizona sit large volumes of water that are less salty than the ocean, but not easily used. If it were all pumped to the surface and purified, this brackish groundwater would supply Arizona’s water needs for a century or more. Problem is, it can’t all be pumped.

Decades of climate change-driven drought, combined with the overpumping of aquifers, is making the valley desperately dry — and appears to be intensifying the levels of heavy metals in drinking water.

In Arizona, finding water in the wilderness means discovering a source of life. 

Agencies in two counties are pursuing different approaches to address overdraft and meet requirements of California’s groundwater law.