The U.S. Department of the Interior will trigger the first “high-flow experimental release” at Glen Canyon Dam since 2008 on Monday, November 19.

Montezuma Valley Irrigation Company had two of its managers, Don Magnuson and Mike Higman, recognized as co-Water Managers of the Year for 2012 for the Colorado Division of Water Resources. The State and Division Engineers have recognized Don and Mike for their tireless efforts in promoting and leading efforts resulting in improvements to the Montezuma Valley Irrigation Company.

The latest issue of the journal Nature Climate Change included what might be viewed as a scholarly good-news/bad-news riff on future supplies of fresh water around the world.

More than anything else, climate change is a water problem. Scientists expect more coastal flooding and possibly more inland flooding. They expect higher temperatures and greater evaporation to deplete water resources, creating risks for the food supply. They believe sea-level rise will eventually render some regions uninhabitable.

An array of groups are urging Arizona regulators to deny water permits needed for a major resort, commercial and residential development at the small community near the entrance to the Grand Canyon National Park’s South Rim.

With sea surface temps cooling to near average in much of the equatorial Pacific, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center has dropped an El Niño watch that’s been in effect for the past several months. El Niño is part of a cyclical pattern of sea surface temperature variations that affects global weather patterns.

Nationally, the scorching heat and relentless drought this year helped spark a disastrous wildfire season. For only the third time on record, the total number of acres burned due to wildfires across the country so far this year has topped 9 million, according to data from the National Interagency Fire Center.

At least 126,000 sites across the U.S. have contaminated groundwater that requires remediation, and about 10 percent of these sites are considered "complex," meaning restoration is unlikely to be achieved in the next 50 to 100 years due to technological limitations, says a new report from the National Research Council.