Colorado River Basin - Inside Climate News

Feds Will Soon Impose New Framework on Colorado River if States Can’t Agree How to Manage It

Amid the river’s worst water year on record and deadlocked negotiations over its future, the Bureau of Reclamation announced it will impose a new 10-year management plan if the states relying on the river don’t come to an agreement.

By Wyatt Myskow

Colorado River Faces ‘Devastating Consequences’ If Another Dry Winter Lands, Experts Warn

By Jake Bolster

Colorado River Negotiators Are Nearly Out of Time and Snowpack

By Jake Bolster, Wyatt Myskow

Colorado River Water Is Too Cheap, Particularly for Agricultural Users

By Wyatt Myskow

Boulder City, Nev., an original Hoover Dam power contractor, now receives additional electric power from the Townsite Solar Facility, located a few miles southwest of the city. Credit: Brett Walton/Circle of Blue

Solar Growth Cushions Colorado River Hydropower Declines

By Brett Walton, Circle of Blue

Wyoming’s Draft Pilot Conservation Program ‘a Good Starting Point’ but There’s Room for Improvement

By Jake Bolster

As Colorado River Nears Collapse, It Faces Leadership, Transparency ‘Crisis,’ Environmentalists Warn

By Wyatt Myskow

Water levels sit low in Lake Powell near Bullfrog, Utah, on Sept. 15. Negotiations to manage the shrinking reservoir and the rest of the Colorado River system may be more difficult without federal leadership. Credit: Alex Hager/KUNC

Nominee for Top Federal Water Role Withdraws Amid Pushback from Some Colorado River States

By Alex Hager, KUNC

The Colorado River flows near Parker, Ariz. The Colorado River Indian Tribes want to give the river the same legal rights as a person, taking millennia of cultural values and putting them into law. Credit: Alex Hager/KUNC

The Colorado River Is This Tribe’s ‘Lifeblood,’ Now They Want To Give It the Same Legal Rights as a Person

By Alex Hager, KUNC

Colorado River Basin Aquifers Are Declining Even More Steeply Than the River, New Research Shows

By Wyatt Myskow

Wyoming Begins Exploring Voluntary Water Conservation Programs

By Jake Bolster

A technician with North American Weather Consultants works on a cloud seeding generator in Ogden, Utah on March 20. Utah has the nation's largest program, and nearby states are watching to see how it adds to the water supply. Credit: Alex Hager/KUNC

Snowflakes, Death Threats and Dollar Signs: Cloud Seeding Is at a Crossroads

By Alex Hager, KUNC

Despite Biden Administration Proposals to Address Colorado River Shortages, a Solution Is Far Off

By Wyatt Myskow

Tourists visit the South Rim of the Grand Canyon on Nov. 1, 2022. The Colorado River flows through the literal giant chasm in Arizona. Credit: Alex Hager/KUNC

Colorado River States Are Separated by a ‘Giant Chasm’ in Negotiations

By Alex Hager, KUNC

Leslie Hagenstein indicates where the New Fork River flows through her property on Mar. 27. She signed up for a program that pays her to pause irrigation on her land in order to save Colorado River water. Some experts say the System Conservation Pilot Program, or SCPP, is costly and may not be the most effective way to save Colorado River water. Credit: Alex Hager/KUNC

Using Less of the Colorado River Takes a Willing Farmer and $45 Million in Federal Funds

By Alex Hager, KUNC and Heather Sackett, Aspen Journalism

A man looks out over the Colorado River near Page, Ariz. on Nov. 2, 2022. The seven states that manage the river are divided about how to account for the impacts of climate change in new plans about sharing its water. Credit: Alex Hager/KUNC

Colorado River States Have Two Different Plans for Managing Water. Here’s Why They Disagree

By Alex Hager, KUNC

Aridity Could Dry Up Southwestern Mine Proposals

By Wyatt Myskow

If Aridification Choked the Southwest for Thousands of Years, What Does The Future Hold?

By Judy Fahys

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