water management

Disputes over water are becoming more common across the Mountain West as populations grow and supplies tighten. Now, a coalition of counties, ranchers and water advocates in Utah and Nevada is appealing federal approval of a groundwater pipeline project in southern Utah.

Salt lakes in the American West are shrinking — from Utah’s Great Salt Lake to smaller lakes scattered across the Great Basin. In her new book “Salt Lakes: An Unnatural History,” writer Caroline Tracey explores why these unusual landscapes matter, and what their decline reveals about humans’ impact on the environment.

Snowpack is often described as the West’s largest natural reservoir, storing water through the winter and slowly releasing it into rivers and reservoirs each spring. But new research suggests the way forests are managed can influence how much of that snow actually becomes part of the water supply.

Across the Mountain West, groundwater is the unseen force keeping springs flowing, wetlands green, and desert plants alive. Now, a new interactive tool is making that hidden water easier to see.

Across the Mountain West, where drought and shrinking reservoirs are putting pressure on already limited water supplies, decisions about who uses how much water often hinge on imperfect data. A nonprofit collaboration called OpenET hopes to change that.

A new analysis shows more than two-thirds of data centers built – or in development – since 2022 are in drought-prone areas, including parts of the Mountain West. Experts warn this could strain water supplies for cities and farmers.

For 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.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum last week ordered all national parks to “remain open and accessible.” The directive comes after about 1,000 National Park Service employees were fired. In March, a federal judge ordered them – and thousands of other laid-off federal workers – to be reinstated, but the U.S. Supreme Court recently blocked that order.

Utah lawmakers have given the state more voice in negotiations over the Colorado and Bear rivers. The move, however, has some environmentalists concerned about the sensitive multi-state agreements that govern the rivers.

A new scientific analysis shows spring is getting warmer across the U.S. because of climate change. Some of the fastest-warming cities are in the Mountain West, threatening to shrink water supplies and increase wildfire risk.