Gene Shawcroft

A boat passes rock formations in Lake Powell near the Utah-Arizona border, April 24, 2024. Forecasts now say the reservoir could reach new record lows by the end of 2026, heightening the stakes for states fighting over the Colorado River’s water.

‘The risk of litigation is high’ for Colorado River states, says Utah’s negotiator

David Condos

The Colorado River Basin appears to be gearing up for a legal fight. And the federal government is weighing its options for making the states share the shrinking river.

The Colorado River flows through Grand County, Colo. on Oct. 23, 2023. Negotiators from seven states remain at an impasse over how to share and conserve the river's water despite four days of recent meetings together in Utah.

Science & Environment

‘We got tired of each other’: Colorado River states still stuck without a deal

Scott Franz

Four days of negotiations in a Salt Lake City conference room earlier in January did not appear to have sparked a breakthrough.

It’s been a pretty good year for snow across Utah, like this spot in Zion National Park seen here on Feb. 10, 2024. But even after two wet winters, forecasts expect runoff in the Colorado River Basin to lag behind snowpack numbers.

Science & Environment

Lingering drought effects are stealing the runoff thunder from Utah’s snowpack

David Condos

Even after a wet winter, the runoff that’s forecast to flow downstream in Utah’s Colorado River Basin looks underwhelming compared to snowpack levels.

Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico are asking the federal government to pause some releases from Flaming Gorge Reservoir, which straddles the border between Wyoming and Utah. The reservoir, pictured here in 2021, is the third-largest in the Colorado River system.

Science & Environment

Upper Colorado River states want to pause Flaming Gorge water releases

Alex Hager

Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico are asking the Bureau of Reclamation to pause the water releases from Flaming Gorge Reservoir that are helping prop up Lake Powell.