The Water Desk

The Water Desk aims to enhance the quality and influence of journalism that revolves around water issues in the West, particularly focusing on the Colorado River Basin. Located in Boulder at the University of Colorado's Center for Environmental Journalism, the Water Desk partners with journalists and media organizations to improve their coverage of water topics and broaden its reach. This cooperative initiative not only creates its own articles but also trains aspiring water journalists, connects with the community to enrich water reporting, and explores creative storytelling methods relevant to the 21st century.

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Articles

Taking stock of the spring snowpack

2 weeks ago | waterdesk.org | Mitch Tobin

April 1, the midpoint in the water year, is an important milestone for scientists, water managers, and others who track the American West’s snowpack. Each watershed has its own typical peak date for the snowpack, but in many places, April 1 has been a traditional moment for taking stock of how the spring snowpack is stacking up. Accordingly, I’ve collected a variety of maps and charts below that illustrate the state of play on April 1.
Data centers a small, but growing factor in Arizona’s water budget

2 weeks ago | waterdesk.org | Brett Walton

BUCKEYE, Ariz. – It was supposed to be called Cipriani, a master planned community with more than 9,700 homes at the western fringe of this sprawling desert city in central Arizona. Plans have changed. One regional growth industry – housing – is being supplanted by another – computing. Even as both carry questions about efficient use of water in one of the driest, fastest-growing areas of the country.
9 graphics that visualize EPA’s climate change indicators for snow

1 month ago | waterdesk.org | Mitch Tobin

I can’t vouch for its shelf life in the Trump administration, but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency continues to publish a revealing set of indicators of climate change impacts, including 14 connected to snow and ice. These data sets, many of them visualized with simple maps and time-series charts, show the unmistakable effects of warming and cover a wide range of subjects, including public health, ecosystems and oceans.
Rain or snow? Observers help scientists understand wintry weather

2 months ago | waterdesk.org | Mitch Tobin

Sometimes snow falls when the air temperature is warmer than water’s freezing point of 32° Fahrenheit. Figuring out the dividing line between rain and snow has long flummoxed forecasters, especially in places like the high country of the American West, where complex topography and dramatic elevation differences shape the weather. The fuzziness of the boundary can have life-or-death implications. If rain falls on top of snow, that can cause disastrous flooding.
At Phoenix’s far edge, a housing boom grasps for water

2 months ago | waterdesk.org | Brett Walton

BUCKEYE, Ariz. – Beneath the exhausting Sonoran sun, an hour’s drive west of Phoenix, heavy machines are methodically scraping the desert bare. Where mesquite and saguaro once stood, the former Douglas Ranch is being graded and platted in the first phase of a national real estate developer’s gargantuan plan that foresees, in the next few decades, as many as 100,000 new homes to shelter 300,000 people.
An illustrated glossary of snow-related terms

Jan 6, 2025 | waterdesk.org | Mitch Tobin

I’ve been a generalist most of my career, sometimes even working as a “general assignment reporter,” so I frequently find myself trying to learn about new subjects and bodies of research. After many self-imposed crash courses, I know that one of the most helpful steps is to understand the terminology used in an issue or field.
Colorado has big dreams to use more water from the Colorado River. But will planned reservoirs ever be built?

Dec 12, 2024 | waterdesk.org | Heather Sackett

Nearly two hours east of Grand Junction on a remote dirt road on the Grand Mesa is a nondescript, shallow, sage-brush-covered valley where two creeks meet. The site, at 8,200 feet in elevation, is home to a wooden corral where ranchers with grazing permits gather their livestock and to the Owens Creek Trailhead where hikers set out for nearby Porter Mountain. It’s also the spot where the largest domestic water provider on Colorado’s Western Slope plans to someday build a reservoir.
Brackish groundwater is no easy water solution for Arizona

Nov 21, 2024 | waterdesk.org | Brett Walton

The numbers are so vast, so enticing that they tantalize like a desert oasis. Deep below the surface in Arizona – roughly a quarter mile underground – sit large volumes of water that are less salty than the ocean, but not easily used. At a depth of 1,200 to 1,500 feet, between 530 million and 700 million acre-feet fill this layer statewide. If it were all pumped to the surface and purified, this brackish groundwater would supply Arizona’s water needs for a century or more.
Tip sheet: monitoring the West’s snowpack

Nov 19, 2024 | waterdesk.org | Mitch Tobin

If you’re looking to gauge the depth and extent of the West’s snowpack, there are tons of helpful resources online that offer data, maps and graphics on both current and historical conditions. This page offers a tip sheet to help navigate a variety of sites and briefly explains some of the technologies used to generate the data behind the visuals.
Climate change and the snowpack: an annotated bibliography

Nov 19, 2024 | waterdesk.org | Mitch Tobin

How is climate change affecting the West’s snowpack? What are the projections for the future? Numerous scientific reports and studies in recent years have tried to answer these questions and others. Below is an annotated bibliography of key scientific works related to climate change and the snowpack, focusing on the American West. At the bottom of the post is a list of recent journalism covering the issue. Have a suggestion for a new study or story to add? Please contact me by email.