Water Issues

The Gila River Indian Community near Phoenix has one of the largest shares of Colorado River water flowing through Arizona. Leading the tribe is Stephen Roe Lewis, a towering figure in the Southwest who has been pivotal in navigating a water crisis across the seven-state Colorado River basin. Lewis has leveraged the Gila River tribe's water abundance to help Arizona and others at a critical time, making his tribe a power player in the parched region.

he Navajo Nation Council has unanimously approved a proposed water rights settlement that carries a price tag larger than any such agreement enacted by Congress. The tribe has one of the largest single outstanding claims in the Colorado River basin, and Thursday's vote marks one of many approvals needed to finalize a deal that has been years in the making. Aside from ensuring water deliveries for the Navajo, Hopi and San Juan Southern Paiute tribes, the settlement also provides some certainty over the Colorado River supply in a state that has been forced to cut back on water use.

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.

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.

A Native American tribe with one of the largest outstanding claims to water in the Colorado River basin is closing in on a settlement.

Water and fire, and more specifically wildfire and snowpack, are crucial to the West. We look at their relationship and what it means for life in Northern Colorado today on In The NoCo.

A new study reveals how climate change and irrigating crops are affecting river flows in the Western U.S.

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.

In 2020, a group of nine flood irrigators in the Kremmling area, scientists and conservation groups began a multiyear research project to find out what happens when irrigation water is withheld from high-elevation fields for a full season and a half-season.

As years of drought and overpumping have reduced groundwater supplies across the West, officials and conservation groups in one part of our region are working to address the problem.