High Country News

Results for keyword: water rights

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 water diversions, urban and rural

Colorado's Front Range and Western Slope communities and farms have always wrangled over the water produced high in the Rocky Mountains.

by Sarah Gilman, Mar 19, 2012
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
Where has Montana's water gone?

The Yellowstone River Compact may not protect Montanans who rely on the Tongue River’s water.

by Sierra Crane-Murdoch, May 19, 2011
It takes a district: Utah landowners control groundwater use

In southern Utah's Escalante Valley, local landowners will form a water district to save their declining aquifer.

by Jamie Hansen, May 10, 2010
The diplomacy of water

Norris Hundley's magisterial Water in the West is back in print to enlighten readers about water politics, especially the Colorado River Compact.

by Matt Jenkins, Oct 26, 2009
A good idea – if you can get away with it

Rainwater harvesting is against the law in many Western states, but folks in Utah, Colorado and Washington want to change that.

by Peter Friederici, Oct 08, 2008
Watch the river flow

In western Colorado, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park wins an important water claim.

by Rob Inglis, Jul 18, 2008
The elephant that was left out of the room …

Indian tribes were left out of the negotiations that divvied up the Colorado River in 1922, but it’s no longer possible to ignore them – particularly in the case of the Navajo Nation.

by Jonathan Thompson, Mar 17, 2008
Seeking the Water Jackpot

The Navajo Nation is determined to finally claim its rightful share of the Colorado River after 86 years of being left out of the region’s water politics.

by Matt Jenkins, Mar 16, 2008