Drought

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo released a joint statement Saturday calling on Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico to offer more concessions.

This dry winter hasn’t spelled much action for city snowplows, but year-round public works staff are busy with preventative maintenance and road repairs.

Negotiators are focusing on a five-year agreement for sharing water from the shrinking river. Experts say that would provide some much-needed flexibility.

Utah’s statewide snowpack level has reached a record low. Much of the West is in the grip of a snow drought, impacting everything from water supplies to mountain forests.

October set the stage for Utah to have a solid spring snowmelt runoff. That is, if the state can catch enough snow this winter.

During droughts and disasters, the Washington County Water Conservancy District’s draft plan could cut up to 60% of the water cities get and leave it up to city leaders to figure out how to get by with less.

The water year that ended Sept. 30 was one of the driest on record for parts of the state, including Salt Lake City and St. George.

After a promising forecast, monsoon rains ghosted Utah for most of the summer. While the recent showers were a welcome relief, they couldn’t help the state climb out of its precipitation deficit.

Utah’s reservoirs are at 67% capacity, but some people are tuning out the message to save water.

Since 2000, heat has become the primary force behind how severe and widespread Western droughts get.

The announcement Friday by federal officials means Arizona will again go without 18% of its allocation, while Mexico loses 5%. The reduction for Nevada will stay at 7%

The Southwest megadrought that began in 2000 could continue until 2050 or maybe even the end of the century. That would mean tough choices for Utah and the Colorado River Basin.