The U.S. is skirting conservation laws and withdrawing millions of gallons of groundwater.
Water
Posted inDecember 9, 2019: Party Favors
California’s Dream has turned into water nightmares
A new book looks at the Golden State’s history to understand its current water crisis.
Posted inDecember 9, 2019: Party Favors
A long-running water-rights lawsuit over the Klamath River ends
Court upholds upstream river rights of the Klamath, Yurok and Hoopa Valley tribes.
Posted inDecember 9, 2019: Crossing to Safety
Montana’s water rights fractured by new development
As subdivisions spread, it’s becoming harder to manage one of the state’s most valuable resources.
Posted inNovember 11, 2019: Storied Landscapes
Humans are great at giving real problems the side-eye
Two new titles provide insight on the willful ignorance that lead to the West’s water woes.
Posted inArticles
Is renewable energy’s future dammed?
A proposed hydroelectric project on the Little Colorado River shows the tricky trade-offs in transitioning from fossil fuels.
Posted inOctober 28, 2019: Where Hunting Still Has Meaning
Environmental study of Shasta Dam height halted
Stakeholders disagree over whether raising the dam would offer benefits or detriments.
Posted inOctober 28, 2019: Where Hunting Still Has Meaning
Salmon swim above the Grand Coulee Dam for first time in 80 years
Members of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation gather to begin a new cycle for salmon.
Posted inArticles
A remote island sees just a third of its pelicans return for breeding season
Low Great Salt Lake levels mean coyotes can get onto the island.
Posted inArticles
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.
Posted inSeptember 16, 2019: "We can either wait on Mother Nature – or we can give it a shot ourselves."
A water ‘win-win’ in Colorado? Not so fast.
A plan to export water from the San Luis Valley to the Denver Metro area is met with defiance.
Posted inSeptember 16, 2019: "We can either wait on Mother Nature – or we can give it a shot ourselves."
Colorado farmers fight to save their water and their community’s future
‘We can either wait on Mother Nature — or we can give it a shot ourselves.’
Posted inSeptember 2, 2019: In Bad Faith
The Mormon Church supplied tainted water to its members for years
Utah regulators turned a blind eye to faulty water systems at a girls’ summer camp, trusting the LDS Church would eventually fix the problem.
Posted inAugust 5, 2019: From Prison to Fireline
The tyranny of lawns and landlords
Renting culture puts dreams of cultivating wildness out of reach.
Posted inArticles
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.
Posted inJuly 21, 2019: A Radical Return
Paranoia and a ‘preposterously’ oversized water tank
An affluent Utah community spent millions to extinguish its fear of fire. Decades later, they’re still trying to buy their way out of a bottomless pit.
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 inArticles
Court throws book at BLM over fracking Chaco
The agency failed to consider water use.
Posted inJune 24, 2019: Losing Lake Coeur d'Alene
See where PFAS pollution has been confirmed in the West
Western states lag behind in both monitoring and regulating the class of ‘forever chemicals.’