-
Stakeholders along the Colorado River are trying to figure out how to drastically cut their use of water, and fast. Now, tribes are asking for a bigger say in the negotiations over how to do it. They are senior water rights holders along the Colorado, but they have historically been left out of decision-making about it.
-
Colorado is ramping up its efforts to distribute the monkeypox vaccine after President Biden declared it a health emergency. And fourteen tribes in the Colorado River basin say they’re being kept “largely in the dark” about plans to conserve an unprecedented amount of water amid historic drought.
-
The US House of Representatives passed legislation that may help provide Arizona with more water. And the Colorado Department of Natural Resources recently awarded a one million dollar grant to the Ute Mountain Ute tribe and three local conservation groups.
-
Water supply is regularly interrupted for residents in a Gunnison mobile home park. After years of bringing attention to the issue, they still haven’t seen solutions. At the same time, several members of the community have been working on a state-wide plan to bring more attention to water equity issues.
-
Two Colorado Republicans who lost their primary races last month are raising unfounded claims of voter fraud and renewing their requests for recounts. And the U.S. house is considering a package of bills related to wildfire and drought this week.
-
One of Colorado’s top water officials says he can’t enforce recent federal demands to start conserving more on the Colorado River. And Colorado Parks and Wildlife is enacting voluntary fishing closures in Southwest Colorado.
-
In the Upper Gunnison River Basin, the majority of water that melts from mountains is used for agriculture. Fields are irrigated for pasture and hay to feed cattle on nearly 100 ranches in the region. A centuries-old system determines who gets their water first and who gets it last.
-
Blue Mesa Reservoir once resembled a deep and healthy lake. But a 22-year drought - coupled with obligations to release water to downstream users - has left the reservoir almost 60 feet below the normal high watermark. Experts say it will take a lot more than one snowy winter to refill the reservoir.
-
A fire broke out at Hoover Dam on Tuesday morning. And states in the Upper Colorado River Basin aren’t ready to commit to federal water conservation targets.
-
In Utah, a fight is brewing over water rights on the Green River, the chief tributary of the Colorado River. Rocky Mountain Community Radio’s Justin Higginbottom spoke with an attorney to break down the situation.