drinking water

The Fifth National Climate Assessment highlights drought as a major hazard in the Southwest and says its impacts are most likely to harm tribal communities.

On July 5, the Albany County Commission updated the Casper Aquifer Protection Plan for the first time in over a decade. The city of Laramie had previously established a protection plan in 2008, and Albany County established a plan in 2011. While those plans were separate, this updated version was created jointly between the two governments.

Though historic snowfall eased drought conditions, threats of extended dry periods don’t let up in the arid West. That’s why water managers are working on creating sustainable water supplies, including turning the water that flushes down people’s toilets into drinking water from their taps.

As residents of a small community on the Navajo Nation eagerly await construction of a 7-mile water pipeline from the Rio Grande, they imagine the luxuries of running water.

In the Southwest, tribal health organizations are finding ways to counter the factors – including the lack of access to clean drinking water – that contribute to high rates of childhood obesity in Native communities.

An environmental group recently released its grades for how states are handling lead contamination in school drinking water – and half of the states in the Mountain West states are failing.

The Environmental Protection Agency proposed new drinking water standards this week for PFAS — the increasingly pervasive toxic chemicals that are highly prevalent in Colorado.

As the West grapples with a long-running drought, a new report suggests states across the region can be doing a lot more to improve water efficiency and conservation.

Colorado cities competed to see which has the best-tasting tap water. KUNC's Alex Hager was invited to judge, but found that it's hard to pick up on "grassy, earthy and rubbery" flavors in a famously bland beverage.

A new U.S. Forest Service report shows that while national forests and grasslands make up about 19% of the land in the West, they contribute about 46% of its surface water supply.