Utah

This week’s Water Wednesday Outdoor Report looks at early-season snowpack levels across the San Miguel, Dolores, Animas, and San Juan basins, recent precipitation totals around the region, and how upcoming moisture may influence drought conditions.

A Moab resident discovered spray-painted graffiti in Arches National Park in the middle of the 44-day government shutdown. National parks have remained open during that time with little to no staff.

KSJD’s Andie Ravensbergen talks with Sarah Burak, Education Director at the Bears Ears Partnership, about Bluff, Utah’s recent designation as an International Dark Sky Community and the town’s first-ever Dark Sky Festival on November 14th and 15th. Burak — a self-proclaimed “Dark Sky Enthusiast” — shares her passion for astronomy, community collaboration, and preserving the beauty of the region’s star-filled skies.

Utah’s Supreme Court has upheld a ruling rejecting a proposal to pipe 55,000 acre-feet of Green River water from Utah to Colorado’s Front Range. The long-debated project, led by Fort Collins developer Aaron Million and Water Horse Resources, would have sent water more than 300 miles across Wyoming. The court agreed with the state engineer’s finding that Water Horse must prove the water would be beneficially used in Colorado before any export can be approved. Conservation groups are calling the decision a major victory for the Colorado River, while Million says the project isn’t over yet.

Drought and steady demand along the Colorado River are draining the nation's second-largest reservoir. Land that was once submerged is now full of beavers and thriving ecosystems.

Utah’s most exclusive hunting permits open for applications on October 28th. Sportsman permits offer extended seasons and access to nearly every open unit for big game species like elk, bison, deer, and bighorn sheep.

Highs run 10° above normal today and Friday before a weekend storm brings widespread rain, cooler temps, and mountain snow.

A group of nonprofits is calling for reductions to water demand, changes at Glen Canyon Dam and more transparent negotiations.

A quick-moving trough brings breezy winds and isolated mountain showers today, with sunshine midweek and cooler, wetter weather returning this weekend.

Visitation at Mesa Verde has been down by a little less than 4 percent this year.