Our Land
Tribes, Power, and Water
Sept. 11, 2020 – In the western United States, rivers like the Colorado River and the Rio Grande were carved up under compacts in the early twentieth century, long before tribes had a say in how rivers would be managed. Even though tribes hold the oldest and most senior water rights, they still don’t always…
Read MoreAll We’ve Surveyed: Five Years After the Gold King Mine Spill
By Laura Paskus Five years ago, crews reopening an abandoned mine in the mountains of southern Colorado breached a containment wall, spewing three million gallons of mining waste into a tributary of the Animas River. Given the mine’s alpine location—which averages 15 feet of snow each year—fieldwork is limited and conditions can change drastically between…
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