Colorado River Basin

The Bureau of Land Management will reassess its policies on oil- and gas-rich lands near the Navajo Nation, surrounding Chaco Canyon National Historical Park. And the new year has brought plenty of snow to the Mountain West, pushing snowpack totals above average across most of the region.

Arizona residents are facing water shortages as Colorado River water levels have been dropping. But some Navajo Nation members have been living without easy access to water for years. That’s why the federal government started building a drinking water system on the reservation. Emma VandenEinde reports on the success and remaining challenges of this long-term project.

The Colorado River Basin is operating under a new plan starting Saturday, and for the first time ever, it includes mandatory cutbacks for some who draw water from the river; There are some road closures planned for Southwest Colorado this weekend.

The number of people in the hospital with COVID-19 continues to drop in Colorado, but Gov Jared Polis is warning that people who have not gotten their booster shots face a new threat; discussions on the future of the Colorado River have wrapped up in Las Vegas, and the theme of the conference was: urgency.

The humpback chub, an important fish species in the Colorado River basin, moved off the endangered list last week, and is now considered threatened; A $25 million road project has been approved by the Navajo Nation Council for the Shiprock, NM area.

After another long, dry summer across the West -- many are hoping for a wet winter. With reservoirs in the region at record-low levels, a lot is riding on what the next few months will bring. But as KUNC’s Alex Hager reports -- even a snowy winter won’t be enough to ease more than two decades of drought...

October marks the start of a new calendar for those who measure and manage water in the Western US, and much of the region remains in drought at the beginning of the new “water year"; Friday is the deadline to apply for the Cortez Community Grants Program.

Classes at Kemper Elementary School in Cortez are being moved online due to an outbreak of COVID-19 throughout the school; The U.S. Senate’s energy subcommittee on water and power held a hearing in Washington DC on Wednesday about ongoing drought conditions.

Drought remains widespread across the Southwest, even after a wet monsoon season in parts of the region; Colorado Parks and Wildlife has lifted the voluntary afternoon fishing closures on the Dolores River effective as of Thursday.

The Bureau of Reclamation declared a water shortage for the lower Colorado River Basin and climate change is making it hard to predict when that might end; The Kwiyagat Academy on the Ute Mountain Ute reservation is still accepting students for its fall academic year.