By Seth Borenstein, The Associated Press The American West is baking, burning and drying in intertwined extreme weather. Four sets of numbers explain how bad it is now, while several others explain why it got this bad. The West is going through “the trifecta of an epically dry year followed by incredible heat the last […]
desertification
Posted inClimate, Environment, News, Water, Wildfire
Drier springs bring hotter summers in the withering Southwest
A question has bothered climatologist Park Williams during the decade he’s been probing drought in the Southwest. Like other climate scientists, he knew from research papers and worldwide storm patterns that a warming atmosphere is thirstier and sops up more moisture from oceans and the land. “But, in the Southwest, we’ve seen the exact opposite […]
Posted inClimate, Growth, News, Water
Drought forces Grand Junction to dip into Colorado River for drinking water for the first time in more than 50 years
For 65 years, the Ute Water Conservancy District serving Grand Junction and Mesa County has let the Colorado River flow on by, while drawing drinking water from pristine runoff 11,000 feet high on Grand Mesa. The severe, ongoing drought has now forced other plans. The utility has for the first time begun to mix Colorado […]
Posted inClimate, Environment, Growth, Housing, News, Water
Aurora and Colorado Springs want more water. The proposed solution — a new reservoir — would have far-reaching impacts.
By Michael Elizabeth Sakas, CPR News While most people in Colorado live on the Front Range, most of the state’s water is on the Western Slope. That’s where the snowpack melts and makes its way into the Colorado River. Much of that water flows to places like Denver through a series of dams, reservoirs, pumps […]