High Country News

L.A. Bets on the Farm

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California – the West’s most powerful water agency – uses a shrewd blend of Wall Street tactics and rural diplomacy to keep the water flowing to L.A. and its environs.

by Matt Jenkins, Nov 12, 2007
Planning for uncertainty

A Phoenix symposium on dealing with drought and global warming echoes the larger uncertainties facing public-land and national park managers throughout the West.

by Paul Larmer, Feb 04, 2008
The mysticism of mud

Ernest Atencio ponders an exceptionally muddy Mud Season in New Mexico, and notes how readily most Westerners forget that we live in an arid landscape.

by Ernest Atencio, May 12, 2008
When it comes to importing water, nothing seems too extreme

A new proposal to send Mississippi River water out West is both insane and entirely possible, given the outrageous water schemes of the past.

by Craig Rowe, Sep 29, 2011
Siltation expert: We need more dams

George Annandale, a siltation expert, says the West needs more dams to satisfy its thirst.

by Paul Larmer, Apr 17, 2011
A Colorado newspaperman fights for his valley's water

Bob Rawlings, publisher of the Pueblo Chieftain, has battled for decades to bring water to southeastern Colorado and, once it's there, to keep it no matter what.

by Matt Jenkins, Mar 26, 2012
Colorado River states reach landmark agreement

The seven states of the Colorado River Basin have come to a groundbreaking agreement that, among other things, will allow cities such as Las Vegas to lease water from out-of-state farms during times of drought

by Matt Jenkins, Feb 20, 2006
Death by a thousand wells

Unregulated domestic wells are straining water supplies in Washington’s Yakima Valley and throughout the West.

by Cally Carswell, Oct 19, 2009
California's Tangled Water Politics

Will there ever be enough water in California's Bay Delta to satisfy farmers, keep fish alive and quench the thirst of millions of people?

by Matt Jenkins, Dec 20, 2010
The Efficiency Paradox

Water efficiency has long been touted as a silver bullet for the West’s water problems, but too much efficiency can cause problems of its own, especially in the fragile Colorado River Delta.

by Matt Jenkins, Feb 05, 2007