Colorado River

Seven years ago, a pulse of water on the Colorado River at the U.S.-Mexico border temporarily reconnected it to the Pacific Ocean. Scientists used the so-called “pulse flow” to study what plant and animal life returned to the desiccated delta along with water.

Washington Post Columnist David Von Drehle recently wrote an opinion piece about the drought gripping the West. Though the situation is dire, Von Drehle said there’s reason to be hopeful.

About 80% of Colorado’s water falls on the western side of the state. But about 80% of Colorado’s people live on the east side of the mountains. Because of gravity, that water doesn’t flow to them naturally. Instead, Colorado’s heavily-populated Front Range relies on a massive plumbing system to keep drinking water flowing to its taps.

The latest Utah news from Friday evening, July 16, 2021.

A massive new infrastructure bill is slowly moving its way through Congress this summer. But a coalition of elected officials, farmers, conservationists and tribal leaders want to make sure it doesn’t include new big pipelines or dams along the parched Colorado River.

Emergency water releases from reservoirs upstream of Lake Powell have begun to preserve the nation’s second-largest reservoir’s ability to generate hydroelectric power.

The water levels behind the Colorado River’s biggest dams are fast-approaching or already at record lows. The historic 21-year megadrought that is squeezing some Western states’ water supplies will also likely start showing up in energy bills, because those dams can’t produce as much electricity.

The latest Utah news from Friday morning, July 9, 2021.

The latest Utah news from Tuesday evening, June 29, 2021.

Colorado River water managers could be pulled back to the negotiating table as soon as next year to keep its biggest reservoirs from declining further.

As the Western U.S. steels itself for another summer of dry, fire-prone conditions, some are turning their attention to recovering from last season’s blazes.

Water supplies are so tight in the West that most states keep close watch over every creek, river, ditch and reservoir. A complex web of laws and rules is meant to ensure that all the water that falls within a state’s boundaries is put to use or sent downstream to meet the needs of others.