colorado river

U.S. States Agree on ‘Historic’ Water Sharing Deal to Prevent Colorado River From Drying Up

U.S. States Agree on ‘Historic’ Water Sharing Deal to Prevent Colorado River From Drying Up

Following months of talks concerning the severe drought conditions in the Colorado River Basin, the U.S. Department of the Interior has announced that representatives from seven Colorado River Basin states have agreed to the submission of a proposal by representatives of three Lower River Basin states — California, Nevada and Arizona — to take billions […]

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    Unprecedented Colorado River Water Shortage Could Be Declared in 2020

    Unprecedented Colorado River Water Shortage Could Be Declared in 2020

    After years of unrelenting drought, federal forecasters reported there are better-than-even odds that the nation’s largest reservoir will decline into shortage conditions by 2020, forcing Arizona, Nevada and Mexico to reduce their Colorado River water use. Millions of U.S. residents and farmers are served by the Lake Mead reservoir that’s supplied by the Colorado. However, […]

    Lawsuit Seeks Personhood Rights for Colorado River

    Lawsuit Seeks Personhood Rights for Colorado River

    A lawsuit filed Monday is seeking to establish personhood rights for the Colorado River–a unique move that could have larger implications for environmental law. The suit, brought by Denver lawyer Jason Flores-Williams against Colorado and Gov. John Hickenlooper, names the river itself as a plaintiff and environmental group Deep Green Resistance as an ally of […]

    Rising Temperatures to Blame for Water Loss in Colorado River

    Rising Temperatures to Blame for Water Loss in Colorado River

    By Tim Radford The Colorado River is dwindling, and climate change is officially to blame. In the first 14 years of this century, the flow declined to only four-fifths of the 20th century average, according to new research. The water lost would have been enough to supply two million people for a whole year. [facebook […]

    NASA: Megadrought Lasting Decades Is 99% Certain in American Southwest

    NASA: Megadrought Lasting Decades Is 99% Certain in American Southwest

    A study released in Science Advances Wednesday finds strong evidence for severe, long-term droughts afflicting the American Southwest, driven by climate change. A megadrought lasting decades is 99 percent certain to hit the region this century, said scientists from Cornell University, the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University and the NASA Goddard Institute for Space […]

    Lake Powell: Going, Going, Gone?

    Lake Powell: Going, Going, Gone?

    The 16-year drought on the Colorado River has drained Lake Mead and Lake Powell to their combined lowest level in history. But that’s nothing compared to what could happen, according to a new study from the State of Colorado. The study indicates that a drought like the one that happened in 2000 – 2006 “would […]