The February 6, 2026 briefing is hot off the presses from Western Water Assessment coyotegulch.blog/2026/02/07/t...

60 cities, water districts weigh in on #ColoradoRiver Shoshone court case -- Shannon Mullane (Fresh Water News) #COriver #aridification coyotegulch.blog/2026/02/07/6...

Western U.S. #snowpack is worth trillions of dollars: Putting a price tag on the water stored in the region’s high-elevation frozen reservoir -- Mitch Tobin (WaterDesk.org) coyotegulch.blog/2026/02/07/w...

One group is now proposing “Abundance” on the Colorado River by building a “coordinated suite of desalination plants.” “At some point, doesn’t it seem just a little bit easier, and a hell of a lot less expensive, to live within our means?” @landdesk.bsky.social www.landdesk.org/p/abundance-...

427.37 parts per million (ppm) CO2 in air 05-Feb-2026 keelingcurve.ucsd.edu

The #snowpack this winter is ‘pretty ugly’ but still not the worst #Colorado climatologists have ever seen -- The #Aspen Times coyotegulch.blog/2026/02/06/t...

#Drought, #ClimateChange affect quality of well water: Study shows 15-25% of private #groundwater wells used for drinking water in the #SanLuisValley contain elevated levels of arsenic, uranium and other heavy metals -- AlamosaCitizen.com coyotegulch.blog/2026/02/06/d...

Utahs cloud seeding operations can do little to restore the state's dismal snowpack coyotegulch.blog/2026/02/05/b...

Reclaiming water from contaminated brine can increase water supply and reduce environmental harm coyotegulch.blog/2026/02/06/r...

Reclaiming water from contaminated brine can increase water supply and reduce environmental harm theconversation.com/reclaiming-w...

“Where the GOP learned to lie as a matter of course is an interesting question, and I’m afraid I’ve had a front row seat. I think it’s the climate fight, more than anything else, that taught them to regard reality as optional.” Read @billmckibben.bsky.social on how we reached this moment

Good. Cherokee Nation awarded nearly $773,000 for Illinois river watershed conservation planning. www.anadisgoi.com/index.php/go...

Worsening snow drought in the West will have cascading impacts Prolonged drought across much of the West has been worsened this winter by low snowfall and persistent warmth, fueling an intense snow drought. The West’s water supplies and winter tourism are in jeopardy. abcnews.go.com/US/worsening...

More grim news about the West's snow drought: 🛰️ Lowest Feb. 1 snow cover in the satellite record (since 2001) 📉 Record-low Feb. 1 statewide snowpack in Oregon, Colorado, and Utah ⚠️ “A Dry, Warm January Leaves the West With the Worst Snowpack in Decades” www.drought.gov/drought-stat...

🌡️Looking ahead to next week, outside of Alaska and the West Coast, the rest of the U.S. will likely see Above Normal Temperatures for mid February. weather.gov

Young people are using cameras to document climate change—and to imagine solutions. From the Great Lakes to coastal marshes, their photos tell a story of loss, resilience, and optimism. Awareness, creativity, and collective action can still shape the future. buff.ly/59xXLkI

#Drought news February 5, 2026: Across the West, #snowpack remains well below the seasonal average coyotegulch.blog/2026/02/05/d...

"Solar power, electric vehicles (EVs) and other clean-energy technologies drove more than a third of the growth in China’s economy in 2025 – and more than 90% of the rise in investment." www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-cle...

The 3-month (Nov-Jan) standardized precipitation index (SPI) map.

I'm hiring! Come work with me as an Energy Policy Analyst at Gridworks, supporting our work to build a stronger, more equitable, more reliable energy grid in the Western U.S. This role is remote and open to folks living in MT, WY, ID, UT, AZ, or NV. Details below. gridworks.org/wp-content/u...

Groundhog confusion as snow drought grips West: Also: On protests, then and now -- Jonathan P. Thompson (LandDesk.org) coyotegulch.blog/2026/02/05/g...

Article: Time Variance in Snowmelt Partitioning: A Mechanistic Modeling Approach to Explore the Role of Catchment Structure and Pre-Snow Rainfall -- Mahbod Taherian, Ali A. Ameli (AGU) coyotegulch.blog/2026/02/05/a...

Time Variance in Snowmelt Partitioning: A Mechanistic Modeling Approach to Explore the Role of Catchment Structure and Pre‐Snow Rainfall - Taherian - 2026 - Water Resources Research - Wiley Online Library agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/...

#ColoradoRiver Negotiators Are Nearly Out of Time and #Snowpack -- Jake Bolster and Wyatt Myskow (InsideClimateNews.org) #COriver #aridification coyotegulch.blog/2026/02/05/c...

Share This Article insideclimatenews.org/news/0402202...

Scientists may have solved 66 million-year-old mystery of how Earth's greenhouse age ended phys.org/news/2026-01... via @physorg_com

Learning from a reviled and inspiring weed.

The Dec-Jan period was the 7th warmest for the Contiguous U.S. since 1940. 21.1% had the warmest Dec-Jan during that period. 0.0% had the coldest Dec-Jan; 0.0% had the 2nd coldest, 0.0% had the 3rd coldest, .... all the way thru the 13th coldest.

I summarized 5 scientific studies that examine how climate change is reshaping the Winter Olympics. New post at snow.news also includes an update on the West’s meager snowpack. www.snow.news/p/winter-oly...

Scientists create the most detailed groundwater map yet — with big implications for the West The map estimates how deep groundwater sits beneath the surface with greater accuracy, with detail down to areas about 100 feet across. #water #groundwater 🧪 www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2026-02-02/s...

Nitrates draining into the Salton Sea underestimated by a factor of ten coyotegulch.blog/2026/02/04/n...

Aging Vallecito Reservoir needs a serious makeover: Emergency overflow remains unusable until fixes can be made -- The #Durango Herald #VallecitoCreek #LosPinosRiver coyotegulch.blog/2026/02/04/a...

Federal Water Tap February 2, 2026 -- Brett Walton (circleofblue.org) coyotegulch.blog/2026/02/04/f...

Federal Water Tap, February 2, 2026: South Dakota Delegation Tries Again for Missouri River Diversion Study www.circleofblue.org/newsletter/f...

Civil Servants Arrange Buffet for #ColoradoRiver Negotiators -- Brian McNeece #COriver #aridification coyotegulch.blog/2026/02/04/c...

#Colorado’s constitution has been amended repeatedly since 1876, when Colorado achieved statehood, but the provision setting forth prior appropriation has not been touched -- Ken Neubecker #ColoradoRiver #COriver #aridification coyotegulch.blog/2026/02/04/c...

427.83 parts per million (ppm) CO2 in air 02-Feb-2026 keelingcurve.ucsd.edu

Agave or bust! Mexican long-nosed bats head farther north in search of sweet nectar Mexican long-nosed bats migrate from Mexico to the Southern U.S. The bats seek agave plants for nourishment, but ongoing drought has hindered the flowering of agave plants. #drought 🦇 apnews.com/article/enda...

Water-intensive industries spring up in Maricopa County during the worst drought in 1200 years coyotegulch.blog/2026/02/03/w...

The US Monthly Drought Outlook shows that drought may change little in February. Pockets may develop (yellow) in the Southern Plains, on the Gulf Coast and in Florida. Drought may improve/be removed (tan/green) in Louisiana and along the East Coast. #drought 🧪 www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/exp...

Western U.S. Cities Open Wallets in Quest for Water Little more than two months ago, on an unusually rainy November evening, the Queen Creek Town Council staked claim to the city’s future. Queen Creek, located in central Arizona southeast of Phoenix, was founded in 1989 but is already home to some…

How #Colorado sees the #ColoradoRiver stalemate -- Allen Best (BigPivots.com) #COriver #aridification coyotegulch.blog/2026/02/03/h...

How Colorado sees the Colorado River stalemate bigpivots.com/how-colorado...

#Colorado is gearing up to fight for water rights as the #ColoradoRiver stalemate continues -- The Summit Daily #COriver #aridification coyotegulch.blog/2026/02/03/c...

The January 2026 global average temperature came in as the 5th highest on record. The top 22 warmest Januarys have all been this century. 🔥

California's snowpack is at 59% of average for this time of year, and extraordinarily warm temperatures are partly to blame: www.latimes.com/environment/... via @ianjames.bsky.social

These four states are in denial over the Colorado River's looming crisis, @sammyroth.bsky.social writes. "After more than 100 years, the time for unchecked growth has passed. In an era of climate crisis, we all need to be realistic." www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/o... @nytopinion.nytimes.com

It's World Wetlands Day. Wetlands protect drinking water, reduce flood risk, store carbon, and sustain biodiversity—yet they’re disappearing fast. We’ve reported on wetlands from the Great Lakes to global river basins. Explore our wetlands coverage today: circleofblue.org

ARIZONA: Three Exciting Desal Concepts coyotegulch.blog/2026/02/02/a...

It's been spring in Denver since fall. I don't need a groundhog to tell me a GODDAMN thing.