The Yaqui catfish was going extinct. Then came the border wall.
Rivers & Lakes
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Video: Reclaiming the Klamath
Yurok attorney Amy Cordalis leads the tribe into litigation over more water for salmon in the Klamath.
Posted inJune 1, 2020: Dissent at a Distance
Climate change has setnetters worried about Alaska’s sockeye
Last year, the state’s Ugashik River was so warm salmon wouldn’t swim up it to spawn.
Posted inOctober 14, 2019: Severed Ties
Courts can’t keep Columbia and Snake River salmon from the edge of extinction
After decades of court cases have rebuffed federal management, it may take a political fix to restore salmon in the Columbia Basin.
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Trump’s Fish and Wildlife pick is entangled with industry
Aurelia Skipwith has ties to water interests fighting endangered species protection and worked for ag giant Monsanto.
Posted inOctober 28, 2019: Where Hunting Still Has Meaning
The Klamath River now has the legal rights of a person
A Yurok Tribe resolution allows cases to be brought on behalf of the river as a person in tribal court.
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The Pebble Mine saga enters a new chapter
The close of public comments is marked by familiar dividing lines and surprising feedback from an EPA official.
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The Colorado River needs a long-term plan for drought
Western states bought some time with a historic agreement but still face a hotter, drier future.
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Federal and tribal coalitions challenge Canadian mining
‘It’s about British Columbia being a really bad actor as an upstream neighbor that pollutes our water.’
Posted inJuly 21, 2019: A Radical Return
Renegotiating the Columbia River Treaty, six decades later
How will bolstered support for tribal sovereignty and the environment change the U.S.-Canada agreement?
Posted inJune 24, 2019: Losing Lake Coeur d'Alene
A dangerous cocktail threatens the gem of North Idaho
Upstream mining has left a toxic legacy at the bottom of Coeur d’Alene Lake.
Posted inJune 10, 2019: 'None of this happened the way you think it did'
Potato living; safe landings; swarms at the bend
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Posted inMay 13, 2019: Atomic Tourists
Currents of consent and control
Like strainers of a river, our memories reshape us from within.
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See the captivating flux of Western alkaline waters
Salt lakes fade from chartreuse to rust into pale wastelands in photos taken by Aya Okawa.
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Will Congress leave the Colorado River high and dry?
After months of negotiations, seven basin states wait for Congressional approval.
Posted inMarch 4, 2019: El Nuevo Movimiento
In need of water, an Idaho town turns to its neighbors
Does recharging an aquifer solve one of the West’s oldest water problems, or perpetuate it?
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One tribal nation could decide the fate of Arizona’s drought plan
The Gila River Indian Community could pull out of the plan in light of a new bill threatening to undermine their water rights.
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California contemplates water for struggling fish
In an unprecedented move, the state may require upstream users to cut water use to improve water quality in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
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A toxic past and present on the Spokane River
In eastern Washington, a push to clean PCBs from its namesake river faces a dirty legacy and global pollution problem.
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Update: New law makes it easier to kill salmon-eating sea lions
In the Columbia River, up to 920 sea lions can be removed each year to protect fish.