Water & Drought

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.

October has been a good month for precipitation in the Four Corners.

Heavy rainfall over a two-day period in the Four Corners region saw severe floods in the Animas and San Juan rivers, causing damages to homes and businesses. Climate researchers are examining historical trends and the impacts of climate change to better understand the massive rain event.

Back-to-back October storms brought record rain and flooding to Southwest Colorado, easing drought but swelling rivers to near-record fall levels.

Recent storms brought record rainfall across the Four Corners — with some areas seeing a third of their annual total in a single day — but drought conditions remain. Water users across the Upper Colorado River Basin are facing deep, uncompensated cuts, forcing widespread farmland fallowing and new pressure on long-term water management.

Colorado is permitting a Florida-based company to deploy warm-weather cloud seeding in Weld County. It's an attempt to make more rain fall on farm fields.

The Trump administration has named Scott Cameron acting commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation and Andrea Travnicek assistant Interior secretary for water and science—two key roles overseeing the Colorado River amid tense negotiations between Basin states.

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

This past water year was dry, with not all of the snowpack making it into the basin's rivers and streams. Forecasters will be looking out for conditions driven by climate change and prolonged drought as they consider what Water Year 2026 will bring.