Healthy Rivers and Lakes

Protecting and Restoring the West’s Rivers and Lakes

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Climate change and growing populations in the West are putting our rivers and lakes in danger, as water demands increase beyond what our rivers can provide. The West is one of the fastest growing regions in the nation, and we must take steps to safeguard our rivers and lakes through wiser water management and updated water policies and laws.

With smarter solutions, water demands for our communities and farms can be met while keeping enough water to make rivers and lakes healthy.

We envision a future where the West’s rivers and lakes have abundant clean water to support fish and wildlife, communities and farms, and world class recreational opportunities. The Colorado River will flow to the sea.

Focus Areas

Keeping Water in River & Lakes

With a warming climate and more water being taken out for growing communities, the West’s rivers and lakes are in danger of drying up.

Protecting the Colorado River

Changing the way we use water from the Colorado River is crucial if we want to save the West’s hardest working river.

Water Conservation & Efficiency

Conserving water and reducing wasted water are the cheapest, fastest, and most reliable ways to secure our water supplies and protect the health of rivers and lakes.

More on Healthy Rivers & Lakes

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Lake Powell Pipeline: Unsustainable, Unnecessary, Expensive, and Contrary to Law

The State of Water and Land Use Planning Integration: Learning from Colorado Communities

The purpose of this report is to synthesize and document barriers, challenges, enabling conditions, resource needs, and priorities for adopting integrated water and land use planning solutions in Colorado communities. The overarching goal is to help inform future water and land use integration efforts throughout the state. In 2020, WaterNow Alliance and Western Resource Advocates conducted 24 informational interviews with water utility staff, land use planners, and elected officials in nine Colorado communities. The results of these interviews indicate that many communities have already taken – or are planning to take – some action to integrate their water and land use planning. However, a number of barriers are holding them back from taking more action, including staff capacity and knowledge, codes and regulatory hurdles, and competing priorities. Through these interviews, a number of recommended future actions were identified, including: initial steps communities can take when they are unclear where they should start, identifying existing programs that communities
can utilize, and state-level policy actions that should be prioritized.

2021 April Field Notes

This issue we break down issues surrounding water scarcity in the West. Learn how WRA is helping save the Colorado River, spearhead innovative policy efforts at the intersection of water and energy, and using ourtanding waters designations to protect entire watersheds.