Drought

The seven states that rely on the Colorado River need to figure out who will take cuts to water usage as climate change worsens drought in the basin. The federal government needs to start an environmental review process in order to have any new operating guidelines in place by October.

The federal government manages the biggest dams on the Colorado River, but it hasn’t been taking a forceful role in negotiations between the states on how to allocate increasingly scarce water in the basin.

Warm temperatures and a lack of snow have made for an anomalous winter in the Upper Colorado River Basin. While it’s not “the new normal,” winters are certainly warming up due to climate change.

Water forecasters, researchers, and politicians are all watching with bated breath as closed-door negotiations continue over allocating water in the Colorado River after 2026. Many are getting frustrated with what they see as a lack of action in the face of a mounting crisis.

Keystone Resort in Colorado was the first resort in the country to open in 2025, in part due to their emphasis on early-season snowmaking. As climate change amplifies drought in the Mountain West, ski areas across the region are considering how best to use increasingly scarce water resources.

Warmer temperatures in November meant that less snowpack accumulated. But storms did increase soil moisture in the Upper Colorado River Basin, making future precipitation more likely to run off slopesides and boost rivers and streams.

This past water year was dry, with not all of the snowpack making it into the basin’s rivers and streams. Forecasters will be looking out for conditions driven by climate change and prolonged drought as they consider what Water Year 2026 will bring.

Drought conditions in the Rocky Mountains could further lower water levels at Lake Powell.

The authors of a new memo say that states need to take shared water cutbacks to manage the Colorado River going forward.

Hydrologists say that hotter temperatures have been drying out soils and vegetation in the west, leading to less water flowing to rivers and streams when snow melts.