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NG-Spacetime/Adobe StockFor decades, hydrologists believed most spring snowmelt rapidly enters rivers and streams. But a new study from the University of Utah shows that most of it spends years as groundwater before it spills into reservoirs – new research that could help western water managers and farmers better plan each year. -
NIFCFederal forecasters are warning that the fire season could be very active across broad swaths of our region this July and August.
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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. -
Prescribed burns can be a valuable tool when preventing damage from increasingly destructive and wildfires driven by climate change. These projects, however, require significant staffing and logistical planning, making their future uncertain as the federal government looks to slash federal agencies. -
Most of the states in our region have at least one county that violates the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Ambient Air Quality Standard, with the most problematic issues involving particulates in the air and heat. -
It would still be illegal to harm Mountain West species, such as jumping mice, migratory birds and desert tortoises, but their habitats may no longer be federally protected. -
Utah is using a technology that can add more water to the state's supply. Others in the Colorado River basin are looking to expand. -
The Trump administration's dramatic staffing cuts at federal lands agencies like the Forest Service are causing anxiety in tinder dry New Mexico, where the wildfire threat is already severe this Spring. -
For example, Utah’s Zion National Park has four days annually on average above 92.4 degrees – its 99th percentile temperature. That could jump to 21 days, or even higher. -
The president signed four executive orders to reverse the trend away from coal-fired electricity in the U.S., but there's little economic incentive for utilities to bring it back when natural gas is so much cheaper. -
New research shows high levels of a toxic byproduct linked to cancer and other health problems polluting drinking water across the U.S., including parts of the Mountain West. One of the main causes is manure runoff from livestock farms.
