Major dust-up for water in the Colorado River

Dust is speeding up snowmelt in the Colorado River, University of Utah study finds • Nevada Current

The Colorado River is pictured near Moab in 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)Researchers at the University of Utah recently published a first-of-its-kind study that measures the impact dust has on melting snow in the Colorado River Basin. Dust has long been credited to accelerating snowmelt in the Intermountain West. Blowing from arid regions and settling in the mountains, the dust darkens the snow, lowering its albedo — esse…

Dust is speeding up snowmelt in the Colorado River, University of Utah study finds

Researchers at the University of Utah recently published a first-of-its-kind study that measures the impact dust has on melting snow in the Colorado River Basin. Dust has long been credited to accelerating snowmelt in the Intermountain West. Blowing from arid…

Colorado River Basin states have just weeks left to agree on plan

During a tour of the Western Slope last week, U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., said he was frustrated with the pace of negotiations that could determine how the Colorado River is shared in the future and that the Upper Basin states may be pushing back too hard. A deal should have been reached last summer, he said. “Colorado should have a right to keep the water that we have been using the way we’ve been using it, and I don’t think we should…

Major dust-up for water in the Colorado River

Dust-on-snow is a major threat to water in the Colorado River, yet no snowmelt forecasts integrate dust-accelerated melt. Using pioneering remote sensing techniques, new research is the first to capture how dust impacts the headwaters of the Colorado River system. The new method could help predict the timing and magnitude of snow darkening and impacts on melt rates on snowpacks, in real time.

Colorado River: The sky is falling, again

By GREG WALCHER

The Colorado River rises in the Rocky Mountains and flows through the southwestern United States, feeding fields and cities. But as it reaches Mexico...