Rocky Mountain Community Radio

This week’s Regional Roundup is a holiday special. We explore unique Christmas traditions and share advice on navigating grief during the holidays. Hear the RMCR Regional Roundup Wednesday mornings at 8:30 on KSUT.

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.

Ten Utah youth are suing the state over its issuance of permits for fossil fuels, which they say violates their rights to life, safety, and health. All of the plaintiffs reside in counties that have received an "F" grade from the American Lung Association due to their poor air quality. It's the latest in a series of climate lawsuits happening around the country.

Colorado has been fighting Aquatic Nuisance Species or ANS for years. Aquatic invasives are often small unremarkable invertebrates; it isn't obvious how much damage they can cause to native environments, human infrastructure, and biodiversity across the West.

The nonpartisan Center for American Progress found that 31 national monuments are at risk of having protections reduced or revoked under the Trump administration. But that would jeopardize some of the water on those landscapes, which provide drinking water for millions of people.

A 2023 Supreme Court ruling, along with new interpretations from the Trump administration, have limited protections for rivers and wetlands. Colorado is looking to fill in that gap with its own regulatory program.

The Trump administration plans to roll back a Biden-era rule that discouraged companies from abandoning wells. Conservatives for Responsible Stewardship found that it could cost taxpayers $750 billion.

New research shows that many rural roads in the Mountain West may be more vulnerable to flooding than people realize. That’s because the culverts and stream crossings underneath them aren’t built to handle today’s storms.

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.

The Colorado River District has cleared an important hurdle in securing the Shoshone water right, which is an in-stream flow agreement with the state. The deal is designed in part to protect Colorado River water levels, and it was approved despite objections from utility companies on the Front Range.