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

Emergency Colorado River rescue plan likely to include more Flaming Gorge releases, payments to...

Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming may face requests for voluntary cutbacks in their use of Colorado River water next year.

Despite blizzard, Colorado’s critical mountain snowpack shrinks

Colorado remains mired in drought, with nearly half classified as being extremely or exceptionally dry, the most dangerous categories.

Scientists seeking answers about Mars look to the Colorado River’s canyons

Ancient rainstorms may have sculpted the red planet, similar to the monsoon rains that helped shape the Southwest’s landscape.
Water diversion photo

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.

Just add water: West Texas wetlands project brings new life to ancient riverbed

EL PASO, Texas — The wild waters of the Rio Grande have not flowed freely through the Rio Bosque wetland since 1943. After being left to run dry for most...

Arizona’s water supplies are drying up. How will its farmers survive?

By Stephen R. Miller, Food and Water Reporting Project Photography by Bill Hatcher You could almost visit Arizona without noticing it was a farming state. If you flew into Phoenix in an aisle seat,...

Grizzly Reservoir to be drained next summer for rehab work

The rehabilitation of Grizzly Dam addresses safety concerns of corroded steel, seepage and operational problems.

As the Colorado River shrinks, can the basin find an equitable solution in sharing...

Drought and climate change are raising concerns that a century-old compact that divided the river’s waters could force unwelcome cuts in use for the upper watershed.

Colorado River farm fallowing pilot moves forward, with approvals slated for next month

Farmers and ranchers in Colorado have submitted proposals to help restore the Colorado River, but the impacts remain uncertain.
Transmission lines march outward from Hoover Dam, delivering the dam's hydroelectric power to cities, irrigation districts, and tribes across the Southwest.

Solar growth cushions Colorado River hydropower declines

Lakes Mead and Powell, the basin’s two largest reservoirs, are approaching critical levels in which hydropower from their dams (Hoover and Glen Canyon, respectively) would be severely curtailed or altogether cease.