A 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling significantly narrowed federal Clean Water Act protections for wetlands and intermittent streams, prompting Colorado to create a new state permitting program and New Mexico to develop a similar system. Supporters say the new state rules will help protect vulnerable waterways in the arid West, though officials acknowledge the programs will require significant resources and cannot fully replace federal oversight.

Blue Mesa Reservoir is at a record low for late July, and federal managers have cut minimum flows on the lower Gunnison below the floor set in 2012. KVNF's Brody Wilson looks at what that means for endangered fish, Uncompahgre Valley farms, and the Black Canyon.

Your local almanac for gardening, landscaping, and much more for your home and valley living.

Can other people force us to feel the emotion of anger? How can we look at these situations mindfully?

Your local almanac for gardening, landscaping, and much more for your home and valley living.

KVNF's weekly call-in gardening show. As the Worm Turns is now on Wednesday's @ 5 PM.

KVNF's Music Team puts together a biweekly list of music we keep coming back to. This is music we can't get enough of right now.

Conservation biologist Pepper Trail recounts a question he was asked recently: "What keeps you going?" His answer? Wildflowers.He’s politically active, he says, because as a scientist, he’s appalled at this administration's defunding and mismanagement of our nation’s scientific enterprise, from the National Science Foundation to the Centers for Disease Control. But along with resistance, Trail writes, there must be recharge—a hike, a walk, or just sitting in the backyard. And noticing wildflowers.

Grand Canyon educator Marjorie “Slim” Woodruff is irritated by social media influencers who assure anyone reading that an arduous hike is no big deal—anyone can do it.“One of the 'in' hikes these days is the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim” she writes. “This involves hiking 21 to 24 miles with almost 10,000 feet of elevation change. This feat requires serious levels of fitness and preparation. Yet on social media, posters encourage complete strangers to go for it, even daring people to try it twice.”The result of this bragging? Alarming rescue statistics.