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The Colorado River’s Backup Reserve Is Running Dry Too
October 31st, 2026
Via Todd Cort’s always insightful substack, a look at how groundwater has been the line of credit that would cover the shortfall when the river failed. This line of credit is being drawn down fastest in the very conditions it was supposed to protect against. In my earlier article on the Colorado River, I asked […]
Read more »As the Colorado River Shrinks, Calls to Drain Lake Powell Grow
October 29th, 2026
Via Yale e360, a look at how Lake Powell recently dropped to a historic low, slashing hydropower and the flow of water downstream. As drought deepens, groups are pushing to drain the lake entirely to reveal its long-submerged rock arches and spires and allow wildlife along the Colorado River to recover. The 27-year-long drought in […]
Read more »Litigation Flows: The Colorado River Enters the Courts
September 5th, 2026
Via Invisible Waters, a look at Nevada’s legal suit against the federal government over its shortage plan: Over the past few years, negotiations over the Colorado River’s new operating rules occurred mostly behind closed doors, with little official record-keeping. But based on the public rhetoric, if you were to make a guess, Nevada would have […]
Read more »What the New Rules for a Shrinking Colorado River Mean for Tribal Nations
September 1st, 2026
Via High Country News, a look at what the new rules for a shrinking Colorado River mean for tribal nations: Between the red rock canyon walls of the Colorado River, Aniston Hanks, 20, stood in the water while her best friend, Shauna Belone, 21, sat along the river’s shore. The two Diné citizens spent part […]
Read more »Fearing ‘Catastrophic Impacts’ From Water Cuts, Nevada Sues Feds Over Colorado River Plan
September 1st, 2026
Via Inside Climate News, a report on Nevada’s plans to sue the Trump administration’s ten-year strategy for how to stabilize use of the Colorado River: Three days was all it took for the Trump administration’s Colorado River plan to see a legal challenge from, somewhat ironically, Nevada. Of the seven states that rely on the […]
Read more »America’s Desert Metropolis Is on the Short List to Lose Water
August 23rd, 2026
Via the New York Times, a look at how Arizona, decades ago, won funding for a massive Colorado River project by agreeing to be first in line for cuts at a time of deep drought. The Trump administration says that time has come. From a secure, windowless room in northern Phoenix, technicians control the Colorado […]
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