Colorado River

After a wildfire, native plants and wildlife are often crowded out by invasive species, and rivers and streams can take years to recover. A collaboration between federal agencies and conservation groups in Nevada's Virgin River watershed, however, points to early signs of recovery.

Colorado's negotiator, Becky Mitchell, and Nevada's, John Entsminger, spoke to a crowd of policy experts and answered questions from the audience.

Bureau of Reclamation commissioner Scott Cameron said his agency is working on a new plan for sharing water, but can't provide exact dates yet.

The Bureau of Reclamation is expected to announce a decision in the next couple of weeks, and said it is weighing several factors, including the Colorado River's ecological health and Glen Canyon Dam's hydropower production.

A new proposal for sharing Colorado River water would bring negotiators together every couple of years. That could create uncertainty and get in the way of big solutions for the future.

Lake Powell’s dire water level forecast is prompting an unprecedented move: transporting a massive marina to deeper waters. It’s another example of how the West’s historically dry, warm year is straining the Colorado River.

The three Western states say their proposal would save 3.2 million acre-feet of water through 2028. That’s enough water to serve more than 25 million people a year.

With the worsening drought, the Colorado River is already at a “worst-case scenario,” and Gov. Spencer Cox thinks that may force states to find common ground.

The Colorado River states are stuck in negotiations about sharing the river's water. Utah and its neighbors have proposed breaking the standstill with a mediator.

Trial runs are happening in some of the nation's most remote and sensitive ecosystems. Dinosaur National Monument recently set up an eDNA autosampler to detect signs of invasive rusty crayfish in the Green River.

Lake Powell is at just 23% capacity and approaching the point where water won't be able to flow into its hydroelectric turbines without air causing damage.

The March heat wave decimated Utah’s already-poor snowpack. That’s bad news for a region that depends on snow for its water supply.