By Susan Montoya Bryan
The Associated Press
ALBUQUERQUE » Tumbleweeds drift along the Rio Grande as sand bars within its banks widen. Smoke from distant wildfires and dust kicked up by intense spring winds fill the valley, exacerbating the feeling of distress that is beginning to w...
By The Associated Press
LINCOLN, NEB. » Nebraska lawmakers gave final approval Tuesday to a bill that would let the state build a canal in Colorado to divert water out of the South Platte River, a project steeped in fears about the Denver area’s growing water consumption.
Lawmakers...
Federal officials weigh emergency actions to reduce flow into Colorado River
By Felicia Fonseca
The Associated Press
FLAGSTAFF, ARIZ. » Federal officials say it may be necessary to reduce water deliveries to users on the Colorado River to prevent the shutdown of a huge dam that supplies h...
As the West gets drier, Colorado tries to get every drop of moisture it can out of winter snowstorms
By Conrad Swanson
The Denver Post
All across Colorado, teams of cloud seeders keep watch over the winter months, looking for the right conditions to make water.
Snow, to be precise. But t...
Firm says proposal a win for area; critics call it a “buy and dry” scheme
By Conrad Swanson
The Denver Post
ALAMOSA » Trouble swirls above the aquifers of Colorado’s San Luis Valley, where farmers and ranchers raise and grow much of the region’s cattle, potatoes, alfalfa and barley.
Those aquife...
By Grant Schulte
The Associated Press
LINCOLN, NEB. » Nebraska water regulators rallied Wednesday behind a proposal to build a $500 million canal in neighboring Colorado to divert water out of the South Platte River, a project steeped in fears that the fast-growing Denver area will consume most of...
By Thomas Peipert
The Associated Press
The sight can be jarring during extreme drought: snowmaking guns lined up on a mountainside, blasting precious crystal flakes on a ski run while the rest of the land goes thirsty.
Snowpack in the U.S. West has decreased by about 20% in the last century, maki...
Colorado Division of Water Resources wants to better track usage in the region
By Conrad Swanson
The Denver Post
Facing severe droughts along Colorado’s Western Slope, state officials want to take better stock of how much water people, businesses and governments take out of the White and ...
By Gillian Flaccus and Brittany Peterson
The Associated Press
MADRAS, ORE. » Phil Fine stands in a parched field and watches a harvester gnaw through his carrot seed crop, spitting clouds of dust in its wake. Cracked dirt lines empty irrigation canals, and dust devils and tumbleweeds punct...
Re: “The Colorado River is sending us a message,” Aug. 29 commentary
Gary Wockner’s column on the Colorado River focuses on Lake Powell and how climate change necessitates a reassessment of how that reservoir should be managed.
Clearly some very difficult decisions need to be made in view ...
By Soumya Karlamangla
© The New York Times Co.
HEALDSBURG, CALIF. » Take a drive through this picture-perfect wine country town and you’ll start to spot them, unsubtle symbols of the state’s extreme drought.
Peeking out from side yards of cottages and behind fences of grand mult...
By Suman Naishadham
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON » U.S. officials on Monday declared the first-ever water shortage from a river that serves 40 million people in the West, triggering cuts to some Arizona farmers next year amid a gripping drought.
Water levels at the largest re...
Drought, changing climate, high demand force government to act
By Felicia Fonseca
The Associated Press
CASA GRANDE, ARIZ. » A harvester rumbles through the fields in the morning light, mowing down rows of corn and chopping up ears, husks and stalks into mulch for feed at a local dairy.
T...
By Suman Naishadham
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON » Included in the sweeping $1 trillion infrastructure bill approved by the Senate is funding for Western water projects that farmers, water providers and environmentalists say are badly needed across the parched region.
The Senate voted last wee...
By Gillian Flaccus and Nathan Howard
The Associated Press
MALIN, ORE. » Judy and Jim Shanks know the exact date their home’s well went dry — June 24.
Since then, their life has been an endless cycle of imposing on relatives for showers and laundry, hauling water to feed a small herd of cattle and...
By Lucas Bessire
Guest Commentary
It is no secret that the Great Plains is facing a groundwater crisis. This is particularly obvious in eastern Colorado and western Kansas, where much of the Ogallala aquifer is in steep and well-documented decline.
Aquifer depletion is an important part of the st...
Arsenic-laced participles could melt snow earlier, hurt ski resorts
By Lindsay Whitehurst
The Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY » The silvery blue waters of the Great Salt Lake sprawl across the Utah desert, having covered an area nearly the size of Delaware for much of history. For years...
Colorado’s plans to take more from rivers collide with hotter climate, wants of other Western states
By Bruce Finley
The Denver Post
Gov. Jared Polis has signed off on increased funding for water development projects that state officials regard as critical to meet growing demands. But the...
By Felicia Fonseca The Associated Press
FLAGSTAFF, ARIZ. » For thousands of years, an Arizona tribe relied on the Colorado River’s natural flooding patterns to farm. Later, it handdug ditches and canals to route water to fields. Now, gravity sends the river water from the north en...
Sunlight tunneled into the room and danced with smoke from Ed Johnson’s cigarette. He sat thinking of his mother.
In 2013, he moved back to the two-bedroom home in Hasty, on the southeastern plains of Colorado, to take care of her.
Johnson, 62, remained in the house after her death...
