INDIAN WELLS, ARIZONA — When the FBI suspected someone was illegally digging artifacts from the Navajo Nation, an agent called Jonathan Dover for help. Dover was working as a Navajo Ranger who specialized in archaeological crimes. He drove with the FBI agent out into a search area that spanned hundreds of square miles. They were […]
San Juan River
Posted inNews
Wildlife officials ask anglers not to fish the Dolores River for the first time ever as rain fails to dent Western Slope drought
Devastating drought and disappearing runoff in far southwestern Colorado have prompted state officials to seek voluntary fishing restrictions on the Dolores River for the first time, and fish and wildlife leaders say they have their eye on potential closures of the Animas and San Juan rivers as well. Intense rain over the weekend — generating […]
Posted inClimate, Environment, News
Colorado’s major snowstorm only made a dent in the drought. These maps and graphs explain what’s going on.
Despite what multiple feet of snow on the ground might suggest to many Coloradans, the state’s long-term drought remains persistent. And water forecasters are worried that even if the state receives decent spring moisture, Colorado and the greater American Southwest will need lots more to emerge from this drought. The record-breaking storms that buried Front […]
Posted inBusiness, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
We now know how many billions of gallons of water Colorado will save by closing coal-fired power plants
The closing of 30 coal-fired generating units across the West – including 10 in Colorado – could free-up more than 76 billion gallons of river and groundwater a year in the increasingly parched region, although utilities appear cautious about giving up their water rights. An analysis by the Energy and Policy Institute, a non-profit, utility […]
Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, COVID, News, Outdoors, Politics and Government
Rafting season is ready to launch, but coronavirus worries are running high in Colorado
By Dean Krakel, Fresh Water News With warming temperatures in Colorado’s mountains and spring runoff in full swing, the whitewater boating season should be off to a roaring start. But Colorado’s stringent COVID-19 travel and recreation restrictions are forcing commercial rafting companies to create social distance on unruly rivers and face the potential for smaller […]
Posted inEnvironment, News, Outdoors, Technology
We know the earth is warming. We know that will stress water in the West. But we don’t know how.
Flavio Lehner was a graduate student working with computer models simulating Earth’s climate at the University of Berne in Switzerland when he had a chance to join a research vessel collecting sea temperatures and measuring ocean currents between Greenland and Svalbard, Norway. “As a lifestyle, field work is very agreeable,” Lehner said. “But for me, […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors
2 women die Friday in Gunnison Basin, bringing Colorado’s spring runoff death toll to at least 5
Two women died in separate accidents Friday in the Gunnison River Basin, bringing the death toll amid spring runoff to at least five people as Colorado waterways rage after a winter of deep snowfall. A Colorado Springs woman, Roberta Sophia Rodriguez, is also missing in the South Fork of the Rio Grande. Authorities say she […]