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Disagreement, bickering, and uncertainty defined 2024 for the Southwest's shrinking water supply.

Money from the Inflation Reduction Act has helped save water in the drought-stricken Colorado River Basin. President-elect Trump appears poised to take away funding for those programs.

The Imperial Irrigation District in California is the Colorado River's largest water user. A new conservation plan will spend hundreds of millions to save water, but environmental advocates raised concerns.

Some experts say the System Conservation Pilot Program, or SCPP, is costly and may not be the most effective way to save Colorado River water.

Officials in Nederland recently voted to repeal the 2021 "Rights of Nature Resolution," which also appears to mean the end of the two "guardian" positions that were created and filled in January. Clean water advocates argue the "Rights of Nature Resolution" is protecting local rivers and they say changing course could be detrimental. The Colorado Sun editor Lance Benzel joined KUNC's Michael Lyle, Jr. to get more on this story.

A new survey of farmers and ranchers found they mainly trust local agencies and have not taken much advantage of state and federal payout programs.

The System Conservation Program is paying water users in the four upper basin states — Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming and Utah — to cut back. Although water users from all sectors can participate, all of the projects in Colorado involved agricultural water users on the Western Slope.

The Interior Department recently announced $180 million in new funding for large-scale water recycling programs. The money is available for local agencies looking to reuse wastewater, which officials say will make a big difference for western communities dealing with drought.

he Biden administration floated two ideas this week for how Western states and Native American tribes could reduce their water use from the dwindling Colorado River. In recent years, an imbalance between the river's flows and how much water users are promised has forced federal officials to consider steps never taken before. A multi-decade drought worsened by climate change is adding to the urgency. The Interior Department's analysis considers two different ways to force cuts to Arizona, Nevada and California. The two options mean varying impacts for cities, farms and people living in the Southwest.

The 83 projects are located in 11 mostly-Western states including Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico and Nevada.