Brian Maffly

Gov. Herbert declares drought emergency for all of Utah

Don’t let last week’s ample rains fool you. Utah remains dangerously parched with water stores severely depleted, natural habitats stressed and woodlands primed for burning, according to an emergency declaration issued Monday by Gov. Gary…

Utah’s water outlook slightly improved, but West remains in grip of long-term drought

The juniper mystery: Why is a tree that’s supposed to withstand drought suddenly dying in southern Utah?

The Utah juniper is considered the West’s most drought-tolerant and resilient conifer, withstanding even the worst dry spells while nearby pinyon and ponderosa drop their needles and die. So it was with some alarm for Kay Shumway, a retired science…

Worsening drought could lead to water-use restrictions

Utah copes with drying streams, dying animals as drought tightens its grip — with no relief in sight

After one of the hottest and driest summers on record, Utah’s water supplies are so low that agricultural water deliveries have been cut short, stream gauges need to be repositioned to measure paltry flows, young deer and elk are dying and ranchers …

Drought-induced fish die-offs expected at several Utah water bodies

As drought continues, Utah’s water outlook gets bleaker

Utah enjoys its deepest snowpack in years, but water officials are not quite ready to declare an end to the drought

Ken’s Lake in Grand County is barely a puddle of its normal self, currently holding just 20 percent of its 13,000 acre-foot capacity, thanks to seven straight dry years in southern Utah. The level of this reservoir near Moab is expected to…

Cox releases ambitious water plan in response to Utah drought

Why is Emigration Creek — a historic Utah waterway — dry? Blame runs from climate change to drought to development to water-sucking wells.

The creek winding down Emigration Canyon once sustained Mormon pioneers’ inaugural crops planted in the summer of 1847 and helped water the Intermountain West’s first major settlement for decades. In some sense, Salt Lake City owes its existence to …

Yes, we just had a storm, but here’s why Utah drought fears persist

Utah reservoirs run out of water, raising concerns about future water availability

After 2 months without rain in southern Utah, emergency declared as farmers expect poor harvests next year

At this time of year, Blaine Nebeker normally would be watching wheat seed sprout at his dryland farm in San Juan County, getting a jump on next spring’s growing season thanks to monsoonal storms that leave the ground damp and the forage green. But …

Cox says Utah wildfires could cost hundreds of millions of dollars if predictions hold

Turns out, southern Utah’s juniper trees aren’t so indestructible after all. But what is killing them?

Late last fall, some 20 federal scientists toured southeastern Utah, prodding sickly and dead juniper trees, peeling back bark, snapping off branches and digging the dirt around root collars in search of clues to what could be killing the West’s most…

After 2 months without rain in southern Utah, emergency declared as farmers expect poor harvests next year

At this time of year, Blaine Nebeker normally would be watching wheat seed sprout at his dryland farm in San Juan County, getting a jump on next spring’s growing season thanks to monsoonal storms that leave the ground damp and the forage green. “It’s …

Can the Lake Powell pipeline still happen?

Feds tighten Colorado River flow at Glen Canyon Dam as ever-shrinking Lake Powell nears critical level

Water shortage declared on the Colorado, triggering cuts to Arizona, Nevada and Mexico

Why Lake Powell visitors will have less lake to play in this year