Luke Runyon
@lukerunyon.bsky.social
Here for watershed moments. Journalist covering water in the western U.S. Co-director of The Water Desk at the University of Colorado’s Center for Environmental Journalism.
📍 Grand Junction, Colorado
waterdesk.org
📍 Grand Junction, Colorado
waterdesk.org
Here's a roundup of Colorado River states' leadership failure to agree on cutbacks and provide a management framework for the system that supplies 1 in 10 Americans with drinking water.
What will the feds do in response? Who knows! Complete lack of transparency in this public policy process.
What will the feds do in response? Who knows! Complete lack of transparency in this public policy process.
November 12, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Here's a roundup of Colorado River states' leadership failure to agree on cutbacks and provide a management framework for the system that supplies 1 in 10 Americans with drinking water.
What will the feds do in response? Who knows! Complete lack of transparency in this public policy process.
What will the feds do in response? Who knows! Complete lack of transparency in this public policy process.
Going to be an uphill battle against a soil moisture deficit to get anything close to an average runoff season next year on the Colorado River. Even a decent snowpack this winter won't mean much given these antecedent conditions. It's dry af on the Western Slope.
September 2, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Going to be an uphill battle against a soil moisture deficit to get anything close to an average runoff season next year on the Colorado River. Even a decent snowpack this winter won't mean much given these antecedent conditions. It's dry af on the Western Slope.
Record high temperatures expected across much of western Colorado & eastern Utah today. Aspen, Craig, Durango, Grand Junction, Meeker, Montrose, Rifle, Bluff, Moab, Vernal all expected to tie or break the all-time high for the day.
August 21, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Record high temperatures expected across much of western Colorado & eastern Utah today. Aspen, Craig, Durango, Grand Junction, Meeker, Montrose, Rifle, Bluff, Moab, Vernal all expected to tie or break the all-time high for the day.
Grim new federal projections show Lake Powell, nation's second-largest reservoir, on a potential glide-path to losing its ability to produce hydropower by the end of next year.
www.usbr.gov/lc/region/g4...
www.usbr.gov/lc/region/g4...
June 30, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Grim new federal projections show Lake Powell, nation's second-largest reservoir, on a potential glide-path to losing its ability to produce hydropower by the end of next year.
www.usbr.gov/lc/region/g4...
www.usbr.gov/lc/region/g4...
From May 1 to today, June 4, the forecast for Colorado River flows into Lake Powell dropped by 10 percentage points, from 55% of avg to 45%. Shaping up to be one of the lowest runoff seasons in recent memory.
June 4, 2025 at 4:20 PM
From May 1 to today, June 4, the forecast for Colorado River flows into Lake Powell dropped by 10 percentage points, from 55% of avg to 45%. Shaping up to be one of the lowest runoff seasons in recent memory.
Has Lake Powell's fill already stalled out this year? Its level hasn't changed since last week at the time of year when it's supposed to be adding new storage. lakepowell.water-data.com
May 29, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Has Lake Powell's fill already stalled out this year? Its level hasn't changed since last week at the time of year when it's supposed to be adding new storage. lakepowell.water-data.com
A moderately dry winter in '25-'26 could have the massive reservoir again flirting with a loss of hydropower production by early 2027.
May 23, 2025 at 4:22 PM
A moderately dry winter in '25-'26 could have the massive reservoir again flirting with a loss of hydropower production by early 2027.
Lake Powell, the nation's second largest reservoir, is on track to have its second worst runoff season in the past 6 years. Flows are currently projected to be 49% of the long-term average.
May 23, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Lake Powell, the nation's second largest reservoir, is on track to have its second worst runoff season in the past 6 years. Flows are currently projected to be 49% of the long-term average.
Snowpack in the Upper Colorado River basin is melting rapidly. This year's snow accumulation neatly matches 2021's winter/spring.
That year Lake Powell started a multi-year decline which triggered emergency policy changes along the river. Powell is lower now than the same time in 2021.
That year Lake Powell started a multi-year decline which triggered emergency policy changes along the river. Powell is lower now than the same time in 2021.
May 5, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Snowpack in the Upper Colorado River basin is melting rapidly. This year's snow accumulation neatly matches 2021's winter/spring.
That year Lake Powell started a multi-year decline which triggered emergency policy changes along the river. Powell is lower now than the same time in 2021.
That year Lake Powell started a multi-year decline which triggered emergency policy changes along the river. Powell is lower now than the same time in 2021.