The state will start work on a new "Colorado Water Plan" to figure out how to secure enough water supplies across the state to meet urban and rural demands, according to an executive order from Gov. John Hickenlooper. The governor on Wednesday directed the Colorado Water Conservation Board to start work on the draft plan.

Lobbying from the very highest level of the U.S. Forest Service has scuttled a state representative's bid to keep the federal government from claiming water rights at ski areas. Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling, said he expects his House Bill 1013 to die without a vote in May, when the Legislature adjourns for the year.

Colorado’s new state forester and director of the Colorado State Forest Service may be moving here from Pennsylvania, but his forestry roots are pure Colorado. Mike Lester is a CSU alumnus and spent time with the Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station.

The Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) is pleased to announce that Rebecca (Becky) Mitchell is the new Water Supply Planning Section Chief, a position formerly held by Eric Hecox.

A drought outlook for Colorado issued March 28 offered a gloomy outlook for the spring and summer unless weather conditions turn around drastically in the next few weeks. Even worse, state water experts said there’s still a greater than 40 percent chance that La Niña could stretch into a third year.

As mountain snow melts, toxic acid laced with dissolved metals such as arsenic, cadmium, copper, and zinc are fouling Colorado watersheds. Among the casualties: state environmental officials also have listed 32 sites along the Animas River in critical condition. The source of the contamination is abandoned mines—about 500,000 across the West, at least 7,300 in Colorado.

Efforts to change federal law to protect groups willing to cleanup polluting mines from legal liability have hit a snag, according to the Obama administration. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said last week that legislative gridlock is keeping President Barrack Obama from his pledge to change the

Federal and Colorado agencies have reached an agreement to streamline geothermal development. The deal is designed to improve cooperation and communication between the U.S.