Atmospheric rivers endanger the West
Moab, Utah, gets just eight inches of rain per year, yet rainwater flooded John Weisheit’s basement last summer. Extremes are…
Glen Canyon Dam under construction 1960-63, courtesy USBR
MoreComing soon, the Apocalypse, maybe
Just about every video game, young adult novel and buzz-worthy streaming series agree that we need to prepare for a…
Photo by Intricate Explorer, Via Unsplash
MoreBusiness as usual for the Colorado River
It seemed inevitable that the dwindling Colorado River would be divvied up by the federal Bureau of Reclamation. On June…
Winterhaven, CA, Imperial Dam, where 90% of the Colorado River is desilted and sent to numerous irrigation districts in CA and AZ. Courtesy of Bureau of Reclamation
MoreThe Colorado River comes alive even as it ebbs
The Colorado River is revealing its secrets. For decades a World War II landing craft lay submerged 200 feet beneath…
MoreDitches are a vanishing paradise
Annette Choszczyk lives in rural western Colorado these days, but when she was a kid, the Highline Canal in Denver…
Photo of North Fork Valley, Co, courtesy of Kenita Burns Moore
MoreThe Colorado River Compact Hasn’t Aged Well
The Colorado River Compact turns 100 this year, but any celebration is damped down by the drying-up of the big…
The public launch ramp at Antelope Point, late March, 2021
MoreDon’t blame the Upper Basin states
But the Bureau of Reclamation has regularly and faithfully released to the Lower Basin, from Powell Reservoir, the Colorado River Compact and Mexican Treaty allotments –- 8.23 million acre-feet only dropping a little below those allotments half a dozen times since Powell began to fill in the 1960s.
Bryan Egner US Dept. of energy Glen Canyon Dam 2018
MoreImagine a great river, flowing free
Some environmental groups and water honchos have sponsored a “Rewilding of Glen Canyon” contest, with the winner getting $4,000 “and…
MoreLooking back to when water was plentiful
During his 50 years in rural western Colorado, Jamie Jacobson has seen a lot of flooding. While caretaking a farm…
MoreA Clear Warning About the Colorado River
For the West this summer, the news about water was grim. In some parts of California, it didn’t rain for…
Photograph by Ken Cheung, Courtesy of Unsplash
MoreSECRETARY BABBITT’S PROPOSAL MAKES SENSE – WITH A FEW CAVEATS
The real obstacle to Babbitt’s proposal springs from our romanticized vision of what agriculture looks like in the West.
Photograph by David Marston
MoreDON’T HURT FARMERS TO SAVE THE COLORADO
No one denies it: Over-consumption of water and extreme drought caused by climate change are realities driving the Colorado River…
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