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Recent Articles from Alex Hager KUNC
Where did the snow go? Researchers probe gap between snowfall, runoff
The Colorado River watershed stretches from Wyoming to Mexico, supplying cities like Phoenix and Los Angeles and sprawling fields that contribute to a multibillion-dollar farm economy. After two decades of drought and steady demand, accurate data on the amount of water entering the region’s dwindling supply is crucial for those who manage it.
Wet winter allows for rare ‘high-flow’ Lake Powell release to help river
An extra pulse of water was sent through the Grand Canyon this week, part of a Bureau of Reclamation “high-flow experiment” designed to move and redeposit sand and sediment from the Glen Canyon Dam in northern Arizona.
Colorado River senators meet quietly to facilitate states’ water talks
Senators from Arizona and the six other Western states in the Colorado River basin have been quietly meeting “for about a year,” to facilitate difficult discussions between the states over the future of the river.
Snowy winter may not mean enough runoff to replenish the Colorado
Recent data shows a snowy start to 2023 for the Colorado River basin, with heavy winter precipitation in the Rocky Mountains projected to boost spring runoff into Lake Powell to 117% of an average year’s flows.
Rain, snow won’t be enough to end West’s drought
The West has been slammed by wet weather this winter: An “atmospheric river” has pummeled California with weeks of heavy rain and the Rocky Mountains are getting buried with snow. That’s good news for the Colorado River, but climate scientists say the 40 million people who use the river’s water should take the good news with a grain of salt.
Page wary of crisis on the Colorado River
As the once-mighty Colorado shrinks in the hands of a changing climate, communities that rely on it are starting to feel the pinch. Many large cities in the Southwest are well-positioned to weather the growing crisis, but some smaller ones have a perilous front row seat as the diminished river threatens to cut off their water supply completely. Page is one of them.
