As Colorado ramps up PFAS drinking water tests, small towns brace for costly fixes
Renee Hoffman was never thrilled about the water quality at her house in Sleepy Bear Mobile Home Park on the outskirts of Steamboat Springs.
“It...
At Peak of Its Wealth and Influence, Arizona’s Desert Civilization Confronts A Reckoning Over...
Arizona’s powerful will to grow is challenged by extreme heat, deep drought, and serious water-related stress.
A dry subject: how scientists map drought conditions
Scientists have a variety of measures of drought, but some are starting to use the term "aridification" to describe the long-term drying of the Southwest.
Steamboat looks to new program to address high river temperatures
Steamboat Springs is trying to comply with state regulations and also cool down chronically high temperatures in an impaired stretch of the Yampa River.
Facing drought and increased demands, Colorado communities eye new storage alternatives
Colorado could need 750,000 acre-feet of new water supplies by 2050 for its growing population, but how to store that water isn’t clear.
What to watch on the Colorado River in 2024
After years of dry conditions throughout the West, 2023 gave the region’s water managers the greatest gift of all: a hefty snowpack. What will 2024 bring?
Colorado River crisis giving tribes new opportunities to right century-old water wrongs
Early involvement in negotiating new Colorado River guidelines will be critical for tribes to determine their future.
West Slope water officials sound alarm on climate change, shrinking water supplies
Colorado West Slope water officials turned up the volume on the call for action around water and climate change, calling it a “train wreck.”
The clock is ticking for New Mexico to cut Rio Grande water use
Photos by Paul Ratje. Reporting supported by the Water Desk at the University of Colorado Boulder.
HATCH, N.M.—After 13 years, Texas and New Mexico have...
Human emissions are helping fuel the Southwest’s epic drought
Three studies of the Pacific Ocean conclude that lower precipitation isn’t just due to natural causes












