For now, the state is counting on voluntary cuts among vegetable and pecan farmers. But that might not be enough.
Rivers & Lakes
Posted inJuly 2026: Lost in the Weeds
Can restoration save the Delta smelt?
In the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, new wetlands await the threatened fish.
Posted inArticles
The Klamath Tribes couldn’t get federal dollars for salmon. Then the Yurok stepped in
For more than 100 years, salmon had been absent from the Klamath Tribes’ lands — a fact that cut them off from funding sources to fix that.
Posted inArticles
The Deschutes River goes to the water-rich few during drought. Farmers are paying the price
A century-old Oregon water law lets one wealthy region turn the desert green while water-starved ag fallows commercial crops.
Posted inArticles
The curious comeback of Putah Creek’s salmon
All the efforts to rewild a Northern California stream leads to salmon rewilding themselves.
Posted inJune 2026: River Revival
On Oregon’s McKenzie River, an unprecedented approach to restoration takes shape
A bold process aims to repair the damaged watershed.
Posted inJune 2026: River Revival
Managed retreat in Ruidoso could mean more public lands
Facing fires and floods, homeowners in Lincoln County, New Mexico, are considering buyouts designed to move them out of harm’s way.
Posted inJune 2026: River Revival
Dredging the Columbia River at the expense of tribal and aquatic communities
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has transformed the estuary and robbed the river of sediment over the last century.
Posted inMarch 2026: The Uncertainty of Farming in the Colorado River Basin
What can we learn from salt lakes?
A Q&A with Caroline Tracey about her new book, which documents the plight of one of our most unusual ecosystems.
Posted inMarch 2026: The Uncertainty of Farming in the Colorado River Basin
How Montana tribes are using sovereignty to restore their waterways
‘We live at the backbone of the world, where the water begins.’
Posted inArticles
The coming failure of Glen Canyon Dam
As Colorado River negotiations build toward a Feb. 14 deadline, few are talking about design flaws in the dam that holds back Lake Powell.
Posted inArticles
‘We’re basically slitting our own throat’: Montana rolls back water-quality standards
The EPA approved Montana’s weaker standards for nutrient pollution during the government shutdown.
Posted inArticles
Water across the West at risk as Trump targets national monuments
A new study found that about 83% of water passing through public lands uses monument designation for its only protection.
Posted inArticles
Why Colorado River negotiations are so difficult
Basin states have had 2 years to figure out how to share the shrinking river. Will they get there before the feds step in?
Posted inArticles
‘It’s a story of hope’: Reflections on undamming the Klamath
A Q&A with Amy Bowers Cordalis about her new book on the multigenerational effort towards dam removal.
Posted inOctober 2025: Limits to Growth
Inventing habitats
Reconciliation means meeting a landscape on its own terms.
Posted inOctober 2025: Limits to Growth
Inventando hábitats
La reconciliación significa encontrarse con un paisaje en sus propios términos
Posted inSeptember 2025: Who Controls Our Food?
The joyful responsibility of cutting fish
My favorite job reminds me that working together is everything.
Posted inSeptember 2025: Who Controls Our Food?
The Rio Grande’s pecan problem
How Big Ag is threatening New Mexico’s water supply.
Posted inAugust 2025: Fire Culture
Flow like the San Juan
If western rivers have been recognized as legal persons, they must be queer and disabled persons.