Staging version updated 12/5/2023

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

Site Features

Hydroelectric turbine at Glen Canyon Dam photo

Powell’s looming power problem

Drought and demand threaten a critical component of the Western grid as Lake Powell approaches minimum power pool for the first time.
The Roaring Fork River seen here on May 24 near the Catherine Store Bridge in Carbondale. Downstream at Glenwood Springs, the river peaked for the season on May 20, early and outside the window of what’s considered normal. CREDIT: HEATHER SACKETT/ASPEN JOURNALISM

Early peak runoff for Western Slope rivers

Snowpack in Colorado is melting earlier than expected due to an increase in dust storm severity.

Photos: Paonia Reservoir, July 2021

This page features drone-captured images of Paonia Reservoir, located in Gunnison County, Colorado. Constructed in 1962, 199-foot Paonia Dam crosses Muddy Creek just upstream from its junction with Anthracite Creek....
Grasslands photo

Grim 2022 drought outlook for Western US offers warnings for the future as climate...

A rapidly warming climate has put the American West in a brutal drought with a hotter and thirstier atmosphere.
Construction workers build a single family home in Castle Rock. The community needs new surface water supplies to reduce its reliance on non-renewable groundwater. Credit: Jerd Smith

Douglas County says no to developers’ San Luis Valley water export proposal

Douglas County will not use COVID-relief funding to help finance a controversial $400 million-plus proposal to export farm water from the San Luis Valley to their fast-growing, water-short region.
Paul Sanchez drives the custom guayule bailer photo

What should farmers grow in the desert?

As the Colorado River withers, a rubber company tries to persuade Arizona farmers to grow a latex-producing crop that’s adapted to arid conditions.

Photos: Roosevelt Lake and Dam, Arizona, February 2021

This page features photos of Theodore Roosevelt Lake and Theodore Roosevelt Dam, along the Salt River east of Phoenix. Roosevelt Dam, which rises 357 feet, was the first structure completed...
The white ‘bathtub ring’ around Lake Mead, shown on Jan. 11, 2022, is roughly 160 feet high and reflects falling water levels. George Rose/Getty Images

What is dead pool? A water expert explains

Lake Mead and Lake Powell could reach water levels low enough to halt hydropower production.
An aerial view of the Colorado State Capitol photo

Turf replacement, wildfire, groundwater sustainability funding among water wins as Colorado legislative session ends

The Colorado General Assembly passed bills concerning groundwater, wildfire mitigation, watershed restoration, turf replacement and more.
Part of the mining operations at the marble quarry as seen from a path above the quarry in September 2021. The quarry operators will have to comply with 10 special conditions as part of their permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Marble quarry must build bridge, culvert and improve stream for Clean Water Act violation

Colorado Stone Quarries must rehabilitate streams they illegally diverted in 2018, but some say even more needs to be done.