water rights

Decades of drought and overpumping are draining groundwater tables across the West. Now, some states are buying farmers’ water rights to free up supplies – and plenty of farmers are ready to sell.

Many farmers across the Mountain West grow alfalfa, which is dried into hay and fed to beef and dairy cattle. But it requires a lot more water than most crops. Now, researchers are working on new technologies to reduce the amount farmers use. Still, some say allowing them to grow such a thirsty crop in the arid West is the problem.

As years of drought and overpumping have reduced groundwater supplies across the West, officials and conservation groups in one part of our region are working to address the problem.

For years, drought and development in the West have caused water shortages for Native American tribes. Now, a new institute aims to give tribes resources and training to advocate for their water rights.

The federal government is spending another $327 million to help fulfill water rights settlements with Native American tribes, including several in the Mountain West.

For 40 years, the Jemez Pueblo in New Mexico has been working to access the water they feel they’re owed by the federal government. And those efforts are more urgent than ever as climate change and development continue to affect their water supplies.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs held a hearing on Nov. 16 on a variety of tribal water rights settlement bills, including two that would impact Indigenous communities in the Mountain West.

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

Here are your local news headlines for the morning of Wednesday, Apr. 7, 2021.California Plans For Broad Pandemic Reopening In Mid-JuneBy The Associated…

Here are your local news headlines for the morning of Tuesday, Apr. 6, 2021.Nevada Farmers And Conservationists Balk At 'Water Banking'By The Associated…