Alex Hager
Reporter, Colorado River BasinEmail: alex.hager@kunc.org
Alex is KUNC's reporter covering the Colorado River Basin. He spent two years at Aspen Public Radio, mainly reporting on the resort economy, the environment and the COVID-19 pandemic. Before that, he covered the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery for KDLG in Dillingham, Alaska.
Alex has a journalism degree from Elon University, where he spent four years working for the student newspaper and TV station. While at Elon, he also worked as a sports correspondent for the Burlington Times-News, covering ACC football and basketball as well as Carolina Panthers NFL football.
When he’s not in the office, Alex enjoys hiking, practicing Spanish, playing basketball, and reading poetry. He was born and raised in Connecticut.
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The Gila River Indian Tribe (GRIC) in Arizona said it does not support the Lower Basin's proposal for post-2026 river management, adding a new layer to complicated negotiations.
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The seven states that use water from the Colorado River have proposed competing plans for how it should be managed after 2026. Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming have one plan in mind. California, Arizona and Nevada have a different idea. The states primarily disagree about the how to account for climate change and how to release water from Lake Powell.
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Water negotiators from states around the Southwest said they are planning to submit separate proposals to the Bureau of Reclamation about managing the Colorado River after 2026.
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Dendrochronologists found that high temperatures in the 21st century make the current drought unprecedented compared to other dry periods around the Colorado River across the past 500 years.
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The hydropower company Nature and People First had proposed a "pumped storage" project in the Black Mesa area. Indigenous advocates are celebrating the decision by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
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A state water agency is buying up millions in water from the Colorado River and that move tells us a lot about water in the West and the community’s thirst for it. KUNC’s Alex Hager explains the high price tag today on In The NoCo.
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The Bureau of Reclamation released a draft plan for releases from Glen Canyon Dam, which holds back Lake Powell. It's an effort to protect native humpback chub from smallmouth bass.
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Water from the Shoshone hydropower plant near Glenwood Springs, Colorado, will be purchased by the Colorado River District. It's part of an expensive effort to keep water flowing to the farms, cities and rivers of Western Colorado, and away from fast-growing cities and towns around Denver.
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Nebraska has purchased 90 acres in Colorado as part of a project to send South Platte water across the border.
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The limited snowfall could have big implications for the Colorado River, which gets most of its water from snow in the Rocky Mountains.