drought

A look at a few projects being proposed as solutions for the low water levels in the lower Colorado River basin, and how the decline in common milkweed threatens the monarch butterfly.

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.

Colorado River activists are calling on the federal government to rework the plumbing on one of its biggest dams. And President Biden signed an executive order on Wednesday that he says will make it easier for people to travel to other states for abortions.

Colorado secretary of State Jena Griswold says recounts requested by election deniers in two primary races will be done by Thursday. And August is forecast to be wetter than normal for much of the Colorado River basin, especially in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona.

Two pieces of legislation are announced that could impact farmers, ranchers, and rural residents; "Farms Under Threat" looks at threats to agricultural land from expanding commercial, industrial, and residential development; a drop in cattle numbers due to drought is leading to the possibility of higher beef prices; and monsoon rain events have been very patchy in the Four Corners Region this summer.

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.

Drought persists although the Four Corners Region received a little rain, paleoclimate evidence shows a drought in the Colorado River basin in the 2nd century AD, and a conservation group ranks the Colorado River as No. 1 on its list of the country’s most endangered rivers.

New Mexico’s primary Election was on Tuesday. Utah’s primary election is coming up as well, on June 28th. And a new study that looks at nearly two thousand years of climate conditions in the Colorado River has identified the worst drought in the recorded history of our region.

Colorado Governor Jared Polis has vetoed a bill that would have required developers to include electric vehicle chargers in new building projects. And lawmakers in Washington, D.C. discussed the Western water crisis on Tuesday.

A controversial proposal to bring water from the San Luis Valley to Douglas County is now unlikely to become a reality. And the Perins Peak fire broke out late Tuesday just northwest of Durango.