The Water Desk
The Colorado River near Moab, Utah. Photo: Ted Wood/The Water Desk.
The Water Desk’s mission is to increase the volume, depth and impact of journalism connected to Western water issues.
Visit waterdesk.org to learn more about the initiative, read stories, and access helpful resources, such as photos, videos and explainers on Western water issues.
Based at the Center for Environmental Journalism, The Water Desk works with journalists and news outlets to strengthen their water-related coverage and expand its impact. This collaborative enterprise also produces original content, helps train the next generation of water journalists, engages with the community and pursues innovative approaches to storytelling.
The Water Desk strengthens water journalism in a variety of ways, including:
- Support for journalists: Through our network, The Water Desk provides funding, training and other resources to journalists and news outlets that cover Western water issues.
- Original content: The Water Desk produces its own journalism and offers free multimedia content, data visualizations and background resources.
- Education and community engagement: The Water Desk works with CU students and others beyond the campus to advance learning and to engage the community on Western water issues.
The Water Desk works across platforms and has supported journalism in newspapers, magazines, websites, radio, podcasts, television and video.
The Water Desk launched in April 2019 with support from a two-year, $700,000 grant from the Walton Family Foundation. A $150,000 grant from the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation is supporting our work in 2020. We have also received funding from Bill and Barbara Burgess. We are seeking additional funding to build and sustain the initiative.
As a journalistic effort, the Water Desk will maintain a strict editorial firewall between its content and funders. Likewise, the Water Desk will have editorial independence from CU.
The Rio Grande Gorge near Taos, New Mexico. Photo: Mitch Tobin/The Water Desk.
The Water Desk is interested in working across platforms and will be looking for ways to support journalism through newspapers, magazines, websites, radio/podcasts, television, video and other media. We’ll be releasing guidelines for applying for funding soon.
In short, the Water Desk will operate as a small news organization that also provides resources, training and other support to journalists, media outlets and students so that the public and policymakers are better informed about Western water issues and the Colorado River.
Learn more about our program on our FAQ page.
Have a question or suggestion? Please email us at waterdesk@colorado.edu
