Drought

A new survey shows many Americans think climate change is causing harm to people right now – and they don’t expect things to get any better.

A new report shows the federal government is paying billions of dollars to farmers who are losing crops to extreme weather – and the payouts keep growing.

New research shows that in much of the world, water supplies for drinking, bathing and farming are being threatened. That includes sections of the Mountain West.

Though historic snowfall eased drought conditions, threats of extended dry periods don’t let up in the arid West. That’s why water managers are working on creating sustainable water supplies, including turning the water that flushes down people’s toilets into drinking water from their taps.

Rising temperatures across the Southwest are hurting farmers’ crops, and that’s escalating crop insurance costs for heat-related impacts, according to a new report by the Environmental Working Group, a nonpartisan research and advocacy group.

Federal officials say many parts of the West continue to see “massive” drought improvements, with some of the most significant changes in the Mountain West.

The Interior Department is spending nearly $85 million to help communities in the West tackle challenges brought on by drought, and many of the projects are in the Mountain West.

A new federal policy aims to protect fish and wildlife migration routes on public lands across the Mountain West and the rest of the U.S.

Linking the West’s electric utilities to form one organized market would create thousands of jobs and lower energy costs in Nevada, a new economic analysis suggests.

Sharing the pain of scarcity goes against Western water law – but this Nevada farm community is trying it anyway.