Proposed bipartisan legislation would eviscerate laws meant to prevent irreversible environmental destruction.
Water
Posted inArticles
Arizona joins Nevada to fight federal Colorado River plan
The Grand Canyon State is suing over Trump administration rules that would sharply reduce the amount of water Arizona receives from the river.
Posted inArticles
How climate change is messing with the West’s weather
Record fires, floods and weather whiplash makes for a region of extremes.
Posted inArticles
Utah’s coal country pushes back against data centers
Carbon County is getting 456 small nuclear reactors and a giant gas plant for data center complexes.
Posted inArticles
Watersheds near RÃo Frijoles bear the brunt of wildfire
In the aftermath of drought, wildfire and floods in northern New Mexico, residents who rely on a centuries-old irrigation system are concerned about water quality.
Posted inOctober 2026: Origin Stories
Native nations sue over Endangered Species Act changes
Environmental work being done by tribes across the country will be made more difficult now that the Trump administration has more narrowly defined ‘harm.’
Posted inArticles
Toxic algal blooms are spreading across the West
Climate change is increasing the frequency of the blooms. Here’s what you need to know.
Posted inNovember 2026: Altered Landscapes
What will happen to the Grand Canyon as water levels drop?
The impacts will reverberate through recreation, river ecology and local tribes.
Posted inSeptember 2026: On the Trail with Gary Paul Nabhan
The massive infrastructure projects of the 1960s wouldn’t work today
When people thought infrastructure could solve the arid West’s water problems.
Posted inSeptember 2026: On the Trail with Gary Paul Nabhan
On the road with a desert sage
A writer travels the Borderlands with ethnobotanist and author Gary Paul Nabhan.
Posted inArticles
Nevada sues over Colorado River plans, aiming to protect Las Vegas
The state says federal plans to manage the drought-stricken basin would cut the city’s water supply by roughly 71%.
Posted inArticles
What the new rules for a shrinking Colorado River mean for tribal nations
‘None of us is in the exact same situation.’
Posted inArticles
Utah is killing the Great Salt Lake
Profligate waste and perverse tax incentives are drying up the West’s largest natural body of water.
Posted inArticles
Federal plan makes steep Colorado River water cuts to Arizona, California and Nevada
The Bureau of Reclamation’s final environmental review leaves the door open for states to reach an agreement on how to share the water — and for legal battles.
Posted inArticles
The clock is ticking for New Mexico to cut Rio Grande water use
For now, the state is counting on voluntary cuts among vegetable and pecan farmers. But that might not be enough.
Posted inJuly 2026: Lost in the Weeds
Collapsing mountains in Alaska are causing massive tsunamis
Climate change is shrinking glaciers, destabilizing the state’s coastline and shaking its tourism industry.
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.