Caroline Llanes, Rocky Mountain Community Radio

Keystone Resort in Colorado was the first resort in the country to open in 2025, in part due to their emphasis on early-season snowmaking. As climate change amplifies drought in the Mountain West, ski areas across the region are considering how best to use increasingly scarce water resources.

A 2023 Supreme Court ruling, along with new interpretations from the Trump administration, have limited protections for rivers and wetlands. Colorado is looking to fill in that gap with its own regulatory program.

Warmer temperatures in November meant that less snowpack accumulated. But storms did increase soil moisture in the Upper Colorado River Basin, making future precipitation more likely to run off slopesides and boost rivers and streams.

To limit damage Colorado Parks and Wildlife has been increasing its efforts to detect the bivalve since it was first discovered in the state in 2022.

Zebra mussels originally came to North America through shipping vessels traveling in the St. Lawrence Seaway from Eastern Europe. In the Great Lakes region, they've wreaked havoc on water infrastructure, and caused millions of dollars in damage.

The One Big Beautiful Bill changed the leasing process for the BLM. Now, land in Colorado will be cheaper for operators to lease, and the agency will have less discretion over the terms of the agreements.