water access

The System Conservation Pilot Program was recently rebooted with $125 million in funding from the Inflation Reduction Act to fight shrinking water levels in Lake Powell.

With water supply is dwindling in the West, Utah is Utah trying to figure out who can divert water from streams and rivers — and when they can do it. But there isn’t a consistent statewide distribution system in place, and without it, celebrated changes to water law fall flat.

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.

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.

Thousands of Coloradans are getting ready to flock to the mountains for the long Memorial Day Weekend, and meteorologists say travelers should be vigilant about increased fire danger. And leaders from the Navajo Nation, the federal government and the state of Utah signed a water rights agreement on Friday.

Two recent moves aim to benefit water access for tribal communities in the Colorado River basin. And the League of Women Voters of Utah is standing by its lawsuit challenging the state’s new congressional maps.

Tribal communities will receive one-point-seven-billion dollars from the Department of the Interior to develop water infrastructure projects. And the town of Rico is holding two public meetings this week on the town’s program to clean up lead contamination in the soil.

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.

Denny Lake, a city-owned body of water in Cortez, will not be getting any more water this season.Also in Cortez, a car accident has prompted a change in…