Battered by drought and drained to a trickle by diversions, the Upper Colorado River got a bit of a boost as a state water court finalized a decree for three important instream flow rights that could help protect trout populations during low-flows.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife recently stocked rainbow trout in three reservoirs in southwest Colorado and fishing should be excellent at those locations. The reservoirs are Totten Reservoir - 5,000 fish, just east of Cortez; Summit Reservoir, - 5,000 fish, located about 8 miles northwest of Mancos on Colo.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife is taking drastic measures to eradicate a species of fish in Miramonte Reservoir officials say is a threat to native species. In summer or fall 2013, the agency will use an organic pesticide to kill all the fish in the lake near Norwood in order to get rid of smallmouth bass. Officials say the bass were illegally introduced into the lake sometime before 2011.

Biologists on Monday will start second-phase treatment in the Hermosa Creek watershed to create a home for native Colorado River cutthroat trout. Colorado Parks and Wildlife and U.S. Forest Service personnel will apply Rotenone to kill non-native fish, specifically brook trout.

Nitrogen compounds from power plants, auto emissions and agriculture is starting to change the alpine vegetation in Rocky Mountain National Park in “subtle but important” ways, according to a University of Colorado Boulder study conducted at the school’s Mountain Research Station.

Between fire bans, wildfires, evacuations, canceled festivities and even voluntary fishing bans on some rivers, it is clear to see the how hot, dry conditions this summer are affecting residents across the state.

Trout may just be the canary in the great Western coal mine. A team of 11 scientists has forecast a challenging future for the fish as climate change is expected to cut its habit in half by 2080. The research was published Monday and conducted by a team of 11 scientists from Trout Unlimited, the U.S. Forest Service, Colorado State University, the U.S.

The Bureau of Land Management has put 26 boulders in the San Juan River near Navajo Dam to improve fishing conditions. The work was done last week across a 200-yard stretch known as the Trucha Rosilla day-use area, about five miles below the northwestern New Mexico dam and beyond the boundary of the San Juan River's designated quality waters.