Latest Colorado River News

Utah approves more money for farmers to save water and send it downstream

12-09-2025 by Ben Winslow

SALT LAKE CITY — More money is headed to farmers in the Colorado River Basin, paying them to not grow as many crops and send the water they

KUER

Utah paid farmers to leave water in the Colorado River. Here’s how it’s going

12-09-2025 by David Condos

Kevin Cotner grows alfalfa in Carbon County. But this year, around a third of his family’s farmland hasn’t grown anything. “It's burnt,” h

KUER

Federal money is still in Trump limbo. Rural Utah is antsy about its water projects

12-09-2025 by David Condos

Price Mayor Michael Kourianos drew an imaginary line in the air between two scrubby desert hills. His hand traced the path of a planned 10

Salt Lake Tribune

How Colorado River talks will affect Utahns and millions more across the Southwest

12-04-2025 by Brooke Larsen

States are in tense negotiations over the future of the drought-ridden river. What they decide will affect cities, tribes and farmers across

Fox 13

As states negotiate a new Colorado River deal, water cuts could be coming to Utah

11-13-2025 by Ben Winslow

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's chief negotiator over the Colorado River says progress has been made in coming up with a new agreement to manage the

Utah News Dispatch

New plan for Colorado River is still murky as states pass by early deadline

11-13-2025 by Annie Knox

States agree they need a long-term solution but other points of consensus are unclear Utahns hoping for clarity on the government’s next m

Salt Lake Tribune

Colorado River talks stall as Utah, other states miss key deadline

11-12-2025 by Brooke Larsen

Current guidelines for the water supply for 40 million people expire at the end of 2026. Utah and the six other states that rely upon the

Fox 13

Plan to pay farmers not to grow crops could help the Colorado River and Utah politically

04-22-2025 by Ben Winslow

KUER

Ecologist Cassie Mellon motions toward the San Rafael River in Emery County, Utah, Aug. 20, 2024. Like many Colorado River tributaries, the San Rafael’s flow patterns have been dramatically altered by upstream dams and diversions. (David Condos/KUER)

As Utah’s San Rafael River dries, scientists try to give native fish a fighting chance

04-16-2025 by David Condos

Fox 13

COVID laws trip up plans for a drought declaration in Utah

04-11-2025 by Ben Winslow

Salt Lake Tribune

March storms have boosted snowpack across the West. Here’s why Lake Powell’s outlook hasn’t improved much.

03-20-2025 by Anastasia Hufham

KUER

Utah approves plan to pay farmers to leave water in the Colorado River

03-20-2025 by David Condos

Great Salt Lake Collaborative

LDS Church adds water-saving tech to churches

03-14-2025 by Heather May

Salt Lake Tribune

Colorado River ‘running out of time’ to improve lagging spring outlook, forecasters say

03-10-2025 by Anastasia Hufham

KUER

Bill Wolverton stands over the stump of a Russian olive tree he cut down near Utah’s Escalante River, Aug. 21, 2024. When he saw these invasive trees taking over the river’s banks more than two decades ago, he took it upon himself to fight back. (David Condos/KUER)

Utah beat back the Russian olive on the Escalante River. That progress is in peril

03-07-2025 by David Condos

KUER

Utah seems ready to pay farmers to leave more water in the Colorado River

02-23-2025 by David Condos

Fox 13

A resolution in the Utah legislature could impact negotiations over the Colorado River

02-17-2025 by Ben Winslow

Salt Lake Tribune

Snowpack in the Rockies is lagging well below average. Colorado River forecasters still see hope on the horizon.

02-12-2025 by Anastasia Hufham

Salt Lake Tribune

‘Year of uncertainty’: Utah farmers could feel the pinch from Trump’s tariffs, immigration policies

02-12-2025 by Mark Eddington

KUER

Utah farms commonly use wheel line irrigation systems, like the one seen here in Wayne County, Aug. 22, 2024. Making these sprinklers more water-efficient may help farms produce more crops but that doesn’t mean it would save more water for the Colorado River. (David Condos/KUER)

Utah’s big water efficiency push may help farms more than the Colorado River

02-10-2025 by David Condos

St. George News

'More profitable with less water': How flexible use helps this Southern Utah farm to conserve

02-10-2025 by Alysha Lundgren

KUER

Utah’s big water efficiency push may help farms more than the Colorado River

02-06-2025 by David Condos

St. George News

An inside look at Washington County's $1B reuse plan to keep water flowing in the future

02-05-2025 by Mori Kessler

KSL.com

Water flows through the Price River in Utah. Projects to improve the river account for some of the over $100 million that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation directed to drought resiliency projects in Utah and on tribal land in or near the state. Water flows through the Price River in Utah. Projects to improve the river account for some of the over $100 million that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation directed to drought resiliency projects in Utah and on tribal land in or near the state. (The Nature Conservancy)

Feds directed $122.8M in drought spending across Utah. Will it be held up by freeze?

01-29-2025 by Carter Williams

KSL.com

North Wash boat ramp below Cataract Canyon on Sept. 22, 2024. Utah's water agent said Monday that efforts to secure water deals outside of the state are underway, but he said it will be easier said than done. North Wash boat ramp below Cataract Canyon on Sept. 22, 2024. Utah's water agent said Monday that efforts to secure water deals outside of the state are underway, but he said it will be easier said than done. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)

Securing water from out of state will be a 'Herculean' effort, Utah's water agent says

01-28-2025 by Carter Williams

KUER

Farmer Gary Wilson stands in one of his alfalfa fields in Moab, Utah, Sept. 17, 2024. For years, he also farmed the land next to this field, but it has been developed into large homes in recent years.

What swapping crops for houses means for Utah’s water and agriculture future

01-22-2025 by David Condos

St. George News

Virgin River Program juggles diverse ecosystems with fast growing Washington County population

01-17-2025 by Stephanie DeGraw

Salt Lake Tribune

The Rocky Mountains have gotten near-average snow this year. So, why are forecasts for Lake Powell inflows so low?

01-16-2025 by Anastasia Hufham

Great Salt Lake Collaborative

File -- Mark Milligan, with the Utah Geological Survey, takes a photo of a mound formed by the mineral mirabilite on the shores of the Great Salt Lake on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020. (Scott G. Winterton/Deseret News)

Our most engaging stories of 2024

12-26-2024 by Becca Green

KUER

Farmer and rancher Coby Hunt stands next to idle irrigation equipment in one of his fields near the town of Green River, Aug. 19, 2024. Utah is launching a new program that will pay producers to leave their fields empty, as Hunt has done, and leave their irrigation water in the Colorado River system. (David Condos/KUER)

Utah wants to shore up its Colorado River share with a water ‘savings account’

12-19-2024 by David Condos

Fox 13

Southern Utah looks to expand water reuse, 'ultra-efficient' landscaping

12-13-2024 by Ben Winslow and Chris Reed

Fox 13

U.S. Supreme Court hears Uinta Basin Railway case and challenge to major environmental law

12-13-2024 by Ben Winslow

KUER

New data could tell us how much of Utah’s water simply disappears into the air

12-10-2024 by David Condos

KUER

Doug Bennett of the Washington County Water Conservancy District points out part of Sunbrook Golf Course that has been converted from grass to desert landscaping, Dec. 3, 2024. Photo by David Condos/KUER

St. George has cut a slice of turf from its golf game — and is eyeing more

12-10-2024 by David Condos

Fox 13

Deep divisions on display at Colorado River summit

12-06-2024 by Ben Winslow

Fox 13

Utah's idea to swap Colorado River water for desalination plant money may not be so crazy after all

12-05-2024 by Ben Winslow

Fox 13

Negotiations moving slowly in new deals governing the Colorado River

12-05-2024 by Ben Winslow

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