Drought

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.

Last year saw vicious wildfires tear through Colorado. That included the three largest blazes in the state’s history and the Grizzly Creek Fire, which…

When it comes to water in the West, a lot of it is visible. Snow stacks up high in the mountains then eventually melts and flows down into valleys. It’s…

Dry conditions are the worst they’ve been in almost 20 years across the Colorado River watershed, which acts as the drinking and irrigation water supply…