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In the Colorado River basin, agriculture accounts for about 80% of all the water used. As the river’s supply shrinks, and some farms start to make cutbacks, many are wondering if new technology can help with water conservation. Research suggests that it may not.
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The decision has brought heated criticism from conservation, environmental, and tribal organizations, who are challenging the BLM's ruling in court, but has been applauded by the coal industry.
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The University of Wyoming is part of a $19 million project looking at how grazing practices affect soil health and rancher well being. The project brings together researchers from 11 different nonprofit organizations, for-profit businesses, private research institutes and public universities in the United States and the United Kingdom.
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The Biden administration has moved to crack down on violent domestic extremists over the past year. But it's given the Bundy family – whose militant actions presaged the Capitol insurrection, and who continue to illegally graze cattle on public lands – a pass.
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Nancy Caywood’s Pinal County farm should have a full field of alfalfa, but since the irrigation district shut off her water because of drought, her fields are empty and dry.
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In Arizona, fields of crops and a growing sprawl of suburban homes mean a increased demand for water in the middle of the desert. Meeting that demand includes drawing from massive stores of water in underground aquifers. But some experts say groundwater is overtaxed, and shouldn’t be seen as a long-term solution for a region where the water supply is expected to shrink in the decades to come.
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Recent storms brought mountain snowpack above normal levels across much of the West, but the precipitation only slightly improves the region's long-term drought conditions.
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“We are careening towards this future where our mountains no longer have the snowpack that we have come to expect them to have to meet our downstream water needs."
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For years, Central Wyoming College in Riverton has been studying the effects of climate change on Wyoming's glaciers. Now they have an even more ambitious project up their sleeve. Wyoming Public Radio's Melodie Edwards talked with Alpine Science Institute Director Jacki Klanchar about Climate Capture, an international effort to collect climate data with the help of locals. Partway through the conversation, they were lucky enough to be joined by NOLS instructor James Kagambi, who will be part of the first all-black team to ascend Mount Everest later next year as part of the Full Circle Everest Expedition.
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“We have to think swiftly,” said Crystal Tulley-Cordova, principal hydrologist for the Navajo Nation. “Otherwise, we will continue to be in the situation that we are in, or even in worse circumstances.”