A study in public policy crafted in the dark. Utah's negotiator claims no Colorado River deadline missed, the feds were pleased with progress on a plan... the public just can't see it yet. subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...

The Colorado River states missed a deadline to agree on permanent and voluntary water use cuts Tuesday. Negotiations will continue as the stakes get higher and river forecasts increasingly dire.

The most insightful story you’ll read about yesterday’s missed deadline (i.e. the only one I’ve seen that actually talks to someone in the room!) @reviewjournal.com: www.reviewjournal.com/news/environ...

Negotiators for 7 states say they’ve made progress in talks on how to share the shrinking Colorado River, but they’ve missed an initial federal deadline. “Conditions on the river continue to be problematic — more problematic over time as those reservoirs decline.” www.latimes.com/environment/...

Could AI and data centers rekindle nuclear power and drive demand for Western uranium? www.azcentral.com/story/news/l...

Here's a roundup of Colorado River states' leadership failure to agree on cutbacks and provide a management framework for the system that supplies 1 in 10 Americans with drinking water. What will the feds do in response? Who knows! Complete lack of transparency in this public policy process.

The Colorado River's biggest dams are already producing less hydropower. Southwest utilities are preparing for a future where flowing water is less reliable:

Ted Cooke, former head of Central Arizona Project, has withdrawn his nomination as Reclamation commissioner, per Alex Hager, KUNC:

Colorado River forecasts are dire. A loss of hydropower production at Glen Canyon dam is increasingly likely next year. Deadpool for both Lakes Powell and Mead is on the horizon. The way out -- the only immediate solution -- is to have users in all 7 basin states agree to use a lot less water.

Going to be an uphill battle against a soil moisture deficit to get anything close to an average runoff season next year on the Colorado River. Even a decent snowpack this winter won't mean much given these antecedent conditions. It's dry af on the Western Slope.

The water situation on Colorado's Western Slope is so bleak this summer, as Heather Sackett reports: aspenjournalism.org/low-river-fl...

Record high temperatures expected across much of western Colorado & eastern Utah today. Aspen, Craig, Durango, Grand Junction, Meeker, Montrose, Rifle, Bluff, Moab, Vernal all expected to tie or break the all-time high for the day.

“We look at it as something that nurtures us. So we have to protect it.”

Boat ramps start closing as Lake Powell takes a nose dive due to diminished river flows and unchecked demand for water in the Southwest: www.nps.gov/glca/learn/n...

Climate change is real. It's happening now. Human activity is causing it. And scrubbing the science about it doesn't change that.

Grim new federal projections show Lake Powell, nation's second-largest reservoir, on a potential glide-path to losing its ability to produce hydropower by the end of next year. www.usbr.gov/lc/region/g4...

Trump has quietly nominated veteran Central Arizona Project official Ted Cooke to lead the Bureau of Reclamation. subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...

Chub fever is gripping Grand Junction.

With Colorado River negotiators in a ‘conclave,’ other experts are on the outside looking in www.kunc.org/news/2025-06...

From May 1 to today, June 4, the forecast for Colorado River flows into Lake Powell dropped by 10 percentage points, from 55% of avg to 45%. Shaping up to be one of the lowest runoff seasons in recent memory.

"The Denver Post requested an interview with all seven of the state negotiators. Three states—New Mexico, Nevada and Arizona—declined an interview and two others—Wyoming and Utah—did not respond." www.denverpost.com/2025/05/31/c...

Has Lake Powell's fill already stalled out this year? Its level hasn't changed since last week at the time of year when it's supposed to be adding new storage. lakepowell.water-data.com

The controversial Uinta Basin Railway, which would haul crude oil along lengths of the Colorado River, was greenlighted by the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday. coloradosun.com/2025/05/29/u...

Scientists found that since 2003 the quantity of groundwater depleted in the Colorado River Basin is comparable to the total capacity of Lake Mead. Much of the depletion is occurring in Arizona, where the bulk of the water is pumped to irrigate farmland in the desert. www.latimes.com/environment/...

I went on 1A today to talk about how this year on the Colorado River is shaping up, and it's not pretty: the1a.org/segments/the...

BREAKING: NPR and three Colorado public radio stations are suing the Trump administration over the president's executive order seeking to ban the use of federal money for NPR and PBS.

Lake Powell, the nation's second largest reservoir, is on track to have its second worst runoff season in the past 6 years. Flows are currently projected to be 49% of the long-term average.

Snowpack in the Upper Colorado River basin is melting rapidly. This year's snow accumulation neatly matches 2021's winter/spring. That year Lake Powell started a multi-year decline which triggered emergency policy changes along the river. Powell is lower now than the same time in 2021.

Trump move to redefine “harm” in Endangered Species Act may pose ecological risks for Colorado coloradosun.com/2025/04/17/t...

“You got seven different states. They’ve all got to be satisfied with the compromises that come out of that, and to do that you’ve got to know what the funding is." www.politico.com/news/2025/03...

"Mr. Trump also mentioned revisiting the sharing of lakes and rivers between the two nations, which is regulated by a number of treaties, a topic he’s expressed interest about in the past." www.nytimes.com/2025/03/07/w...

“The volume of water didn’t make sense. The way it came down didn’t make sense."

"It's going to significantly impact our operations." Trump administration dramatically cuts staff at water agency in California. From @ianjames.bsky.social www.latimes.com/environment/...

Mass firings of probationary federal workers begin at NOAA, including many in Boulder coloradosun.com/2025/02/27/n...

"When leaders try to silence reporters through intimidation, legal threats and denial of access, they are not protecting the country; they are protecting themselves from scrutiny." www.sej.org/sej-signs-jo...

New from @alexhager.bsky.social looks at how pause in federal funding is affecting Colorado River projects and talks:

Concerns over water supply hang over the expansion of Phoenix's far-flung desert exurbs. @waltonbrett.bsky.social visited the neighborhoods sprouting up in Buckeye, AZ for @circleofblue.bsky.social and @waterdesk.bsky.social.

After years of pressure to commit to conservation, Upper Colorado River Basin officials offer up 200,000 acre-feet to help restart ongoing negotiations: aspenjournalism.org/future-water...

At last week's meet up of Colorado River negotiators, there was a lot of talk about the "hopes and dreams" for future Upper Basin water development. Reporter Heather Sackett (Aspen Journalism) and I spent the last few months trying to put numbers behind those dreams: waterdesk.org/2024/12/colo...

“…speakers invoked Dr. Strangelove, the Hunger Games and Alice in Wonderland to convey the dire, darkly dystopian and illusory state of the negotiations for how the Colorado River will be shared in the future.” aspenjournalism.org/water-manage...

Back in 2018, Lower Colorado River basin officials said they weren't interested in gaming out the details of a Compact Call: www.kunc.org/environment/... Now, Arizona's biggest river user (CAP) is asking the feds to study that possible future scenario: knowyourwaternews.com/cap-statemen...

Hi everyone 👋🏼 Luke Runyon here. I’m a journalist who covers water and climate issues in the western U.S. with a focus on scarcity in the Colorado River Basin. I formerly served as president of the Society of Environmental Journalists. Follow for news and thoughts on climate, water, and journalism.