Water

Since Glen Canyon Dam was commissioned in 1964 and it first began filling, Lake Powell has never been like it is right now, at just 27% of its capacity. It’s threatening to dip below the minimum elevation needed to produce hydropower within the next year. A string of dry winters could push it to dead pool status.

As water levels in Lake Powell keep dropping, activists say Glen Canyon Dam is in need of upgrades to its plumbing so it can keep sending water downstream.

A summer deadline approaches for state leaders to agree on how to cut their water use from the Colorado River.

Colorado River water managers are facing a monumental task. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has asked seven western states to commit to an unprecedented amount of conservation and do it before a deadline later this summer. This comes amid shrinking water levels in the nation's largest reservoirs.

Introduced by Rep. Melanie Stansbury, the bills aim to improve water data nationally and facilitate better water management across the Rio Grande Basin.

A U.S. Congress bill focuses on infrastructure. Also, a "shared vision" statement from tribes that live in the Colorado River basin and conservation groups focuses on the environmental issues around water access and aims to give tribes a greater voice.

Airborne Snow Observatories flies planes over watersheds and beams masses of laser pulses each second to the snowpack below to create elevation maps. The maps help calculate snow depth and the water supply forecast across the West.

Deputy Secretary of the Interior Tommy Beaudreau said the New Belen Wasteway, a Bureau of Reclamation project that routes agricultural runoff back to the Rio Grande, is an example of an investment in water infrastructure that has huge impacts on surrounding communities.

Water, or the lack thereof, has become a hot topic across the region. With severe drought becoming more of a reality with each passing season, City of Boise Strategic Water Resources Manager John Roldan and his colleagues talk about water – downpours and drought – every day of the year.

The Colorado River and the Snake River rank Nos. 1 and 2 on a conservation group's list of the 10 most endangered rivers in the country.