• Your Dashboard
  • Features
  • Public Lands
  • Indigenous Affairs
  • Water
  • Climate Change
  • Arts & Culture
  • Subscribe
  • Donate Now
  • The Magazine
  • Jobs & Classifieds
    • Jobs & Classifieds
    • Place a Classified Ad
    • Display Ad Info
  • Your Dashboard
  • Features
  • Public Lands
  • Indigenous Affairs
  • Water
  • Climate Change
  • Arts & Culture
  • Subscribe
  • Donate Now
  • The Magazine
  • Jobs & Classifieds
    • Jobs & Classifieds
    • Place a Classified Ad
    • Display Ad Info
Skip to content
High Country News

High Country News

A nonprofit independent magazine of unblinking journalism that shines a light on all of the complexities of the West.

Support

Water

Posted inArticles

The New Mexico utility that wants to go all in on green hydrogen

by Mary Catherine O’Connor August 19, 2024August 20, 2024

The project, like the larger green hydrogen economy, will need to overcome skepticism from local communities and funding challenges.

President Joe Biden at the Intel Ocotillo campus in Chandler, Arizona. Intel received the largest investment under the Biden administration’s CHIPS Act.
Posted inAugust 2024: In the Wake of the Floods

A silicon revival in the West

by Erin X. Wong August 1, 2024July 31, 2024

Is the region ready to produce the world’s most advanced technology?

Posted inArticles

Project 2025’s extreme vision for the West

by Michelle Nijhuis and Erin X. Wong July 19, 2024August 9, 2024

The demolition of public lands, water and wildlife protections are part of conservatives’ plan for a second Trump term.

Posted inArticles

In an era of dam removal, California is building more

by Theo Whitcomb July 12, 2024August 8, 2024

Proponents say a new reservoir off the Sacramento River is environmentally friendly.

The Bessemer ditch near Pueblo, Colorado.
Posted inJuly 2024

A new documentary confronts water scarcity in the West

by Natalia Mesa July 1, 2024July 1, 2024

In Mirasol: Looking at the Sun, Colorado farmers fight to save their communities.

Posted inArticles

Supreme Court curtails agencies’ ability to enforce regulations

by Erin X. Wong June 28, 2024August 8, 2024

The repeal of the bedrock Chevron doctrine throws climate and conservation laws into doubt.

Posted inArticles

Audio: Undoing the dams

by Ruxandra Guidi June 19, 2024August 8, 2024

Bringing flow back to Western waterways.

Posted inArticles

What’s next for Willamette Falls?

by Nika Bartoo-Smith June 18, 2024August 8, 2024

The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde move the second largest waterfall toward public access.

Posted inJune 2024: The Idea of Wilderness

Water inequality on the Colorado River

by Jonathan Thompson June 1, 2024June 14, 2024

A new accounting reveals deep disparities in Western water consumption.

Posted inArticles

Spring on Alaska’s Unuk River shouldn’t mean fighting for our way of life

by Lee Wagner May 29, 2024August 8, 2024

Transboundary-mining pollution threatens our sovereign rights.

Posted inArticles

The West’s wetlands are struggling. Some have been overlooked altogether.

by Natalia Mesa May 22, 2024August 8, 2024

Wetlands are carbon-storage powerhouses — and many are unmapped.

The Bruneau-Jarbidge-Owyhee Rivers Wilderness in the Owyhee Canyonlands.
Posted inArticles

What’s next for the Owyhee Canyonlands?

by Kylie Mohr April 29, 2024August 8, 2024

Supporters call it ’the largest conservation opportunity in the West.’

Posted inArticles

When dams come down, what happens to the ocean?

by Natalia Mesa April 19, 2024August 8, 2024

A long-term study of the Elwha River Delta reveals lasting change — and a healthier ecosystem.

Posted inArticles

Cattle are drinking the Colorado River dry

by Jonathan Thompson March 28, 2024March 28, 2024

Balancing Western water demand and supply will alter the region’s landscape.

Posted inArticles

A new law seeks to tame mineral extraction at the Great Salt Lake

by Brooke Larsen March 4, 2024March 19, 2024

The new limits may represent a shift in Utah’s cozy relationship with industry.

Sarah Ferris holds a flyer she received last year from the city of Vancouver informing residents that PFAS had been found in the city’s wells.
Posted inMarch 2024: Fertile Ground

The dangers of PFAS — and of downplaying their ubiquity

by Sarah Trent March 1, 2024February 29, 2024

Even well-meaning officials often provide inadequate or misleading information, putting communities at higher risk.

Posted inArticles

The good, the bad and the ugly of the state legislative season

by Jonathan Thompson February 29, 2024February 28, 2024

While Congress does nothing, Western state lawmakers pass a flurry of consequential and/or crazy — bills.

Posted inArticles

Wild ice: A training ground for rural skaters

by Luna Anna Archey February 8, 2024April 24, 2024

On the Western Slope of Colorado, frozen reservoirs and rivers offer interesting terrain for skating.

Central Valley Chinook salmon are released at Nimbus Hatchery in Gold River, California.
Posted inArticles

Gov. Newsom releases new plan to save California salmon

by Sharon Levy January 31, 2024February 2, 2024

A wave of dam removals is planned, but salmon strategy relies on voluntary water cuts.

Posted inJanuary 11, 2024: The Creatures in Our Midst

The Northwestern Shoshone are restoring the Bear River Massacre site

by Brooke Larsen January 29, 2024May 8, 2024

The tribe is reclaiming their gathering place and returning water to the Great Salt Lake.

Posts navigation

1 2 3 … 81 Older posts

Support nonprofit news

High Country News relies on donations as well as subscription fees to produce independent reporting on the West. Help continue the legacy of reader-supported journalism by making a tax-deductible contribution today.

Make a contribution

Find out more about how we use your contributions in our annual reports and filings.

Subscribe to High Country News

Get access to on-the-ground reporting from across the West and support continued coverage of our region.

Get our newsletters

Sign up to receive news and updates from High Country News.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Most popular stories

  • Lake Mead’s illegal road network is growing
  • Collaborating to create more resources for rural students
  • The New Mexico utility that wants to go all in on green hydrogen
  • Land-grab universities
  • How do you protect wildlife from sprawl?

Featured Stories

Collaborating to create more resources for rural students

Collaborating to create more resources for rural students

After losing his sight, the Tijuana River Estuary offered other ways to see

After losing his sight, the Tijuana River Estuary offered other ways to see

Endurance and the spirit of wrestling in the West

Endurance and the spirit of wrestling in the West

The West in Perspective

Can words help us out of climate despair and toward repair?

by Ruxandra Guidi

Grabbing public land in the name of housing

by Jonathan Thompson

Who is spouting violent rhetoric?

by Jonathan Thompson

About High Country News

  • Our history
  • How to support HCN
  • Submissions

Know the West.

Get 2 free issues ↓

119 Grand Avenue
PO Box 1090
Paonia, CO 81428
(970) 527-4898

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • TikTok
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS Feed
  • Contact Us
  • About us
  • Careers
  • Pitch us a story
  • Fellowships
  • Education
  • Support our work
  • Advertise
  • Syndication
  • Subscriber services
Get 2 free issues ↓
Magazine cover: January 11, 2024: The Creatures in Our Midst

Sign up for a free trial of High Country News. Learn what’s happening across the West today and see if becoming a subscriber is for you.

Privacy Policy | Terms of Use

© 2024 High Country News. All rights reserved Powered by Newspack