Amid mounting drought, changing federal leadership and stalled state negotiations, new federal proposals aim to chart a forward path.
Colorado River
Posted inSeptember 2024: When Migrants Go Missing
What happens when a concrete jungle becomes a ‘sponge city’
Engineering for flood resilience can address storms heightened by climate change.
Posted inArticles
Utah wants your public land — for more roads
The state wants to build a highway through tortoise habitat.
Posted inAugust 2024: In the Wake of the Floods
A silicon revival in the West
Is the region ready to produce the world’s most advanced technology?
Posted inJune 2024: The Idea of Wilderness
Water inequality on the Colorado River
A new accounting reveals deep disparities in Western water consumption.
Posted inArticles
Lake Mead’s illegal road network is growing
People have created hundreds of miles of unofficial roads trying to reach the water as levels decline. Federal officials want funds to address the issue.
Posted inArticles
Caminos ilegales alrededor del Lago Mead plantean nuevo peligro para el medio ambiente
La gente ha creado caminos no oficiales para llegar al agua a medida que los niveles disminuyen. Funcionarios quieren fondos para atender el problema.
Posted inArticles
Cattle are drinking the Colorado River dry
Balancing Western water demand and supply will alter the region’s landscape.
Posted inArticles
A cartography of loss in the Borderlands
Mexicali’s Colorado River Family Album documents what is no more.
Posted inArticles
Stories that made us green with envy in 2023
A roundup of the articles we wish we’d written ourselves this past year.
Posted inArticles
Remove dams to fight the climate crisis
Ten reasons bringing down these barriers are key for mitigation and adaptation.
Posted inArticles
What the fed’s new proposal for management of Colorado River reservoirs means
Lake Powell and Lake Mead remain historically low, but modeling shows risk of crisis levels has lessened over the next three years.
Posted inNovember 1, 2023: November 1, 2023
How Green River celebrates its melon farmers
Thousands turn out for Melon Days, but the future looks uncertain.
Posted inArticles
States opposed tribes’ access to the Colorado River 70 years ago. History is repeating itself.
Records shed new light on states’ vocal opposition in the 1950s to tribes claiming their share of the river.
Posted inOctober 2, 2023: The Dark Side of the Sheepherding Industry
Staving off a bass invasion
As Lake Powell shrinks, smallmouth bass threaten the Grand Canyon’s native fishes.
Posted inArticles
Federal court derails proposed Utah oil railroad
Failures to assess risks to Colorado River and ‘numerous NEPA violations’ in project’s impact analysis highlighted.
Posted inOctober 2, 2023: The Dark Side of the Sheepherding Industry
The case of the Colorado River’s missing water
Researchers are trying to unravel the mystery of snow that falls but never shows up in the river.
Posted inJuly 1, 2023: Waiting for Water
How private interests benefit from tribal water settlements
When power players like mining and agriculture are involved, tribal nations, usually the senior-most water-rights holders, often must fight obstruction.
Posted inJuly 1, 2023: Waiting for Water
Decades after the Colorado River flooded the Chemehuevi’s land, the tribe still doesn’t have its share
Nearly all of the tribe’s water remains in the river and ends up being used by Southern California cities.