After a year with good snowpack levels in the Rocky Mountains, some would say parts of the West are clear of the historic drought that lasted nearly two decades.
The Colorado River is short on water. But you wouldn’t know it by looking at a slate of proposed water projects in the river’s Upper Basin states of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Two states in the U.S. West have work to do on a plan to combat the shrinking supply of Colorado River water that 40 million people depend on but that's threatened by a prolonged drought, a federal official said Friday.
PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and state legislative leaders said Friday that approving a drought contingency plan before the end of January is their No. 1 priority during the annual session starting next week.
Water managers in the West met in Las Vegas last week for an annual conference, and on their agenda was figuring out how to deal with Lake Mead dropping to historically low levels.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Back-to-back California storms blanket the Sierra Nevada in snow, more than twice the snowpack level compared to this time last year, with winter still nearly two weeks away.
At the same time last year, the Sierra snowpack was 47 perce
The effects of climate change are not far off problems for future generations. They are existential problems for everyone alive today. That’s one big takeaway from the U.S. federal government’s latest roundup of climate science, the National Climate Assessment, now in its fourth iteration.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — National climate experts have been watching and waiting but El Nino has only been teasing, leaving the American Southwest to hang on longer until the weather pattern develops and brings more moisture to the drought-stricken region.
Water scarcity and heat are threatening two of Switzerland's main agricultural products: milk and cheese. But the shortage affects far more than cows — Swiss glaciers also feed Europe's major rivers.
High temperatures and a severe drought have hit food production in Germany and left many farmers there wondering what they can do to survive climate change.
The tough conditions are drying up huge swathes of land, leaving farmers struggling. Groups of thirsty emus recently showed up in an outback mining town looking for water.
Because his profits are tied to rain and snow, one Oregon rancher will have to pay thousands to haul water and grass to his cattle in the mountains. And the land just continues to become more parched.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A dry winter for the region feeding the Colorado River means Lake Mead's water level could drop, but not enough to trigger an emergency shortage declaration that would force water cutbacks in Nevada and Arizona.
If rainfall doesn't come soon, it could cost billions in devastation — a difficult fallout considering the USDA expects farmers' incomes to hit a 12-year low even if crop yields stay high.
