Water law

  • Colorado River Image by John Weisheit
    The Getches-Wilkinson Center has published a comprehensive report documenting discussions from the 46th Annual Colorado Law Conference on Natural Resources Law. Held in partnership with the Water & Tribes Initiative, this landmark event gathered
  • Kawuneeche Valley
    On July 8, the Getches-Wilkinson Center visited the Kawuneeche Valley restoration site at Beaver Creek in Rocky Mountain National Park. Upon arriving at Beaver Creek, the team met with Isabel de Silva Shewell, the lead ecologist on the project with
  • Depletion rate of combined contents of Lake Powell and Lake Mead
    July 12, 2026 marked the date that the combined storage in Lake Mead and Lake Powell reached a new all time low.  Stored water reserves in the two reservoirs are now less than they were before Lake Powell was constructed.  The last
  • Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, USA - August 7, 2025: Aerial drone view of Microsoft’s Fairwater AI data center campus under construction in Racine County. The large-scale hyperscale facility is part of a multibillion-dollar investment by Microsoft to build one of the world’s most advanced artificial intelligence data centers. The Fairwater site spans hundreds of acres and includes multiple large buildings designed to house high-performance computing infrastructure, including hundreds of thousands of GPUs used f
    Thirst for Data: State Responses to Data Center Water Use is a new Getches-Wilkinson Center report on Artificial Intelligence, water, and legal reform. AI is fueling a data center development boom—but what does it mean for our water future? Data
  • Brad Udall
    Brad Udall presents an engaging look at the Colorado River in an era of climate change. Discover the challenges facing the river and the choices that will shape its future. This event is co-hosted by Colorado Mountain Club Boulder Group and
  •  Graph showing total storage in 46 reservoirs in the Colorado River Basin since January 1, 2023. The minimum amount during this period occurred in mid-March 2023, when total storage was less than at any time since late May 1965. The amount of increase or decrease in total Basin storage during the accumulation and depletion periods of each year are shown. Updated to June 14, 2026.
    We almost always focus on just Lake Powell and Lake Mead, but there are 46 reservoirs in the Colorado River Basin.  This new paper by Jack Schmidt and the usual suspects looks at the state and trends of total Basin storage and the “Ratchet
  • Colorado River by Chris Winter
    The Colorado River:Searching for Solutions in the Face of UncertaintyThe Colorado River is facing unprecedented change and uncertainty. Average annual flows continue to decline, and negotiations to craft post-2026 guidelines to manage the river have
  • Lake Powell Near Page
    Stored water reserves in the Colorado River system continue to decline.  The mismatch between natural supply and overall Basin water use is having the inevitable effect on Basin-wide storage.  This paper analyzes the impact on storage in
  • Bull Lake
    On Friday, May 1st and Saturday, May 2nd, the Wind River Water Resource Control Board (WRWRCB), Gina Guy Center for Land and Water Law, and Getches-Wilkinson Center hosted the 2nd Annual Wind River Water Forum. Gathering at the
  • Tyanne Benallie on the homelands of the Tamayame (Santa Ana Pueblo)
    Colorado Law is ranked seventh in the nation for environmental law with the Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy, and the Environment (GWC) advancing its commitment to educating young leaders through the Water Law Fellows Program.
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