Water in the West

As the West grapples with a long-running drought, a new report suggests states across the region can be doing a lot more to improve water efficiency and conservation.

Heavy rain and snow could provide a boost to the Colorado River, where the nation's largest reservoirs are shrinking due to 23 years of drought and steady demand. But climate scientists warn that it will take more than one wet winter to end the drought.

As drought and steady demand shrink the Colorado River and Lake Powell, Glen Canyon Dam faces an existential threat. It's a rare example of the Southwest's water crisis made visible.

Colorado cities competed to see which has the best-tasting tap water. KUNC's Alex Hager was invited to judge, but found that it's hard to pick up on "grassy, earthy and rubbery" flavors in a famously bland beverage.

The Bureau of Reclamation filed a Notice of Intent to propose changes to the amount of water released from Lake Powell and Lake Mead.

The Department of the Interior designated $4 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act for drought mitigation in the Colorado River basin.

Water agencies in Southern California have agreed to cut back 400,000 acre-feet each year for four years. The deal between agencies supplying cities and farms comes amid federal pressure to reduce use of the shrinking river.

States in the Colorado River Basin have failed to meet a federal deadline to conserve an unprecedented amount of water. The lack of consensus on how to wean off the river’s dwindling supply puts the water source for 40 million in the Southwest in jeopardy.