New Mexico

At Grand Canyon National Park, a lightning-sparked fire that started July 4 highlighted the challenges of using fire to benefit the landscape. The wind-whipped flames ended up consuming a historic lodge and dozens of other structures.

On July 16, 1945, the U.S. detonated the first nuclear bomb. In the years that followed, other tests led to a wave of health problems in Utah and across the West. Now, advocates are celebrating the expansion of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act.

This seasonal dance choreographed by Mother Nature marks a special time for the southwestern United States and Mexico. It is when residents clasp their hands, hoping for much-needed moisture to dampen the threat of wildfire and keep rivers flowing.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham says the approach is problematic while Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon voiced qualified support for plans to tap federal land for development.

Colorado River states appear to be coalescing around the early makings of a new plan to share water in a way that accounts for climate change.

Cooke is the former manager of the Central Arizona Project. Regional water experts regard him as a qualified expert.

Water experts opened June by gathering at the University of Colorado, Boulder, for talks about the future of the Colorado River. Top policymakers were notably absent.

Colorado, Montana, New Mexico and Wyoming all have seen rates at least tripled between 2018 and 2023, according to a Mountain West News Bureau analysis. In Utah's Summit County, cancellations jumped from fewer than 100 to 316 in the same period.

Top water negotiators declined to speak at an upcoming conference amid closed-door meetings about the future of the water supply for 40 million people.

The authors of a new memo say the seven states negotiating over a new Colorado River deal need to take shared water cutbacks to manage the river going forward.

The FBI is sending extra agents, analysts and other personnel to field offices in 10 states over the next six months to help investigate unsolved violent crimes in Indian Country.

The Pacific Institute reports looks at nature-based solutions and technology to help those hit hardest by climate change. But as federal funding dries up, it could be harder to address water woes and prepare communities for more frequent and extreme weather.