fresh water news
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Colorado River flows will plummet this water year to 24% of normal: Bureau
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LAS VEGAS ? As the Colorado River crisis deepens, a new federal analysis of flows into Lake Powell shows that they will continue to plummet through 2025, before beginning to partially recover. James Prairie, a hydrologic engineer for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, said flows are likely to be just 24% of average this year, making it…
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Federal infrastructure money to help alleviate PFAS, lead in Colorado water
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Hundreds of thousands of Coloradans exposed to drinking water tainted by lead from aging, corroded city pipes or so-called forever chemicals will see clean water faster thanks to a historic infusion of $500 million from the federal government. The money, largely from the new Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, is being funneled through the Colorado Department of…
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Colorado OKs drinking treated wastewater: Getting over the ‘ick factor’
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Colorado regulators, after years of study, negotiations and testing, approved a new rule that clears the way for drinking treated wastewater this week, one of only a handful of states in the country to do so. The action came in a unanimous vote of the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission Oct. 11. Direct potable reuse…
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Once-pristine Grand Lake asks state to intervene in water clarity stalemate
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Fourteen years after Colorado adopted standards to restore Grand Lake, the state’s largest natural water body once known for its astonishing clarity and high water quality, continues to deteriorate. Frustrated and worried about the future, Grand Lake locals are asking the state to intervene to break through a logjam of federal and environmental red tape…
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Two new Colorado River deals give parched Lake Powell temporary relief
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Drought-strapped Lake Powell has received a major, if potentially temporary, reprieve with two emergency agreements that will provide 1 million acre-feet of Colorado River water this year to boost lake levels and protect hydropower production at Glen Canyon Dam. The water will come from an emergency release of 500,000 acre-feet from Utah’s Flaming Gorge Reservoir,…
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Colorado’s age-old water doctrine pushed to the brink by drought
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Editor’s Note: This story is a collaborative report by Fresh Water News working with nine other Colorado news outlets. In Evans, four miles south of Greeley, houses are shooting up. Once a quiet farm town, Evans is scrambling to come up with enough water to slake the thirst of hundreds of new homeowners, drawn here…
