The impacts will reverberate through recreation, river ecology and local tribes.
Water
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.
Posted inArticles
Glen Canyon Dam dances with deadpool
Megadrought on the Colorado River has put the dam in a precarious position.
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 inArticles
Can resistance stop a massive data center next to the Great Salt Lake?
Utah has become the latest front in a high-stakes fight to build the infrastructure powering the A.I. boom.
Posted inArticles
Treat water like family, not profit
Federal and state approaches to managing the Colorado River – as well as land and wildlife – reflect a lack of experience.
Posted inMay 2026: Pinecone Cowboys
Colorado’s Arkansas Valley water confronts contamination, climate change and political drama
‘If you don’t have clean water, you really don’t have anything.’
Posted inMay 2026: Pinecone Cowboys
The dark legacy of the atomic age is still playing out in New Mexico
‘We were a sacrifice zone.’
Posted inArticles
Nukes and AI require 1.4 million gallons of water a day at New Mexico lab
In a state that’s already short on the resource, Los Alamos National Laboratory expects to double water use.