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Environment | Shrinking Colorado River faces another…
Wednesday, April 29th 2026

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Shrinking Colorado River faces another water-sapping threat — from underground, new study says

Depletion of groundwater will reduce mountain streams that supply critical water to river basin

A photo of dry brown mountains in Colorado
The high mountains in central Colorado were mostly dry in December 2017 in this file photo, taken from the Crested Butte Mountain Resort looking up the Slate and East river valleys around the time snowpack in the Gunnison River Basin was 35 percent of normal. The smaller rivers are tributaries of the Gunnison River. (Photo provided by USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service)
DENVER, CO - NOVEMBER 8: Elise Schmelzer - Staff portraits at the Denver Post studio. (Photo by Eric Lutzens/The Denver Post)
By | eschmelzer@denverpost.com | The Denver Post
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As the West heats up, the study found, mountain groundwater storage will deplete and the mountain streams that feed the region's rivers will drastically shrink.
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