climate change

Reservoirs across the West are slowly losing space to store water as dirt, sand and other sediment pile up behind dams, according to new, sweeping, nationwide research.

Much of the West sweltered through record-breaking heat this summer, as a strengthening El Niño, unusually warm oceans and ongoing human-caused climate change combined to push temperatures to historic levels.

Deaths and close calls while fighting wildfires have strained an already on-edge workforce. They've also raised questions about policies and priorities amid an intense wildfire season.

In 2025, roughly 4.5% of Utah homeowners policies — or nearly 1 in 20 — were not renewed by insurance providers. That’s the highest rate in the country, and 1.5% higher than the number two state California.

A coalition of chambers of commerce, including nearly a dozen from Arizona, have sent a letter to congress asking the federal government to send new money for water-saving work.

The faster a fire burns, the more severe its ecological impacts. That's one of the findings of a new paper in the journal Science Advances. Climate change only promises to further accelerate those fires, according to its lead author.

The new agreement means less water for Mexico, but provides stability to those who use the Colorado River near its delta.

Along the Colorado River, 30 federally recognized tribes have legal and cultural claims. Yet they have no formal seat in negotiations.

There is less water available now in the Colorado River and negotiators are working to figure out how to distribute that water.

States that share the Colorado River have been meeting behind closed doors. But as they’ve failed to forge a deal for the river’s future, more are questioning the negotiation process itself.