groundwater

Decades of drought and overpumping are draining groundwater tables across the West. Now, some states are buying farmers’ water rights to free up supplies – and plenty of farmers are ready to sell.

As years of drought and overpumping have reduced groundwater supplies across the West, officials and conservation groups in one part of our region are working to address the problem.

There’s a lot of concern about PFAS chemicals that have seeped into waterways in the Mountain West. But some researchers are finding that bacteria can help clean them up.

A University of Colorado professor is partnering with community water groups to learn about metal contamination in water – an issue of increasing concern in the Mountain West.

A recent study shows that groundwater could decrease by a third in the Colorado River Basin in the next 30 years due to climate change.

Applications to drill eight high capacity water wells in Laramie County continue to move forward, even though, last fall, a control area advisory board recommended they be rejected. Since then, the case's hearing examiner submitted an 85-page proposed order to the state engineer recommending the water wells be approved.

A bill has passed out of committee that would require applicants interested in drilling water wells to prove the wells wouldn’t deplete their neighbors’ streams and wells. Right now, the neighbors have to prove it would hurt them.

Five members of a Wyoming state engineer's advisory board recommended rejecting eight permits to drill high capacity water wells in Laramie County. The case has driven a wedge between neighbors since 2019.

This summer, drought reigns supreme across the West. A reminder that, here, water is valuable. One source, though, seems safely tucked away--groundwater. But is it? Ranchers in southeast Wyoming are fighting to protect their groundwater, as one family aims to pump billions of gallons out of it. Wyoming Public Radio's Melodie Edwards reports.

The Wyoming State Geological Survey (WSGS) is studying groundwater quality across the state.WSGS hydrogeologist Karl Taboga said the goal was to identify…