Colorado River water managers are facing a monumental task. Federal officials have given leaders in seven western states a new charge, to commit to an unprecedented amount of conservation and do it before a deadline later this summer. Without major cutbacks in water use the nation’s two largest reservoirs are in danger of reaching critically low levels. KUNC’s Alex Hager reports. Plus, Gavin Dahl speaks with one of the leaders of the Canary Committee.

Access to labor and employment standards can be inconsistent for guest workers coming to the U.S. to do farm and ranch work. A local advocacy organization is making great strides to remedy that. Kate Redmond has more. Then the pandemic wreaked havoc in many nursing homes and prisons. State psychiatric hospitals say they controlled COVID-19 a lot better, though there are some notable exceptions. The Mountain West News Bureau’s Madelyn Beck reports.

Raymond Toney shares one more episode The Colorado Howl, from KDUR in Durango. Then, residents of a mobile home park in Gunnison were recently without water for most of the day. The three wells that supply their water are unreliable. They’ve been speaking up for years without result. Now a few Gunnison residents are working on an initiative to address equity in water issues. Stephanie Maltarich reports for the Headwaters series.

Raymond Toney shares another edition of The Colorado Howl, about gray wolf reintroduction, from KDUR Durango. Then, in the Upper Gunnison River Basin, a majority of water that melts from mountains is used for agriculture. Fields are irrigated for pasture and hay to feed cattle on nearly 100 ranches in the region. A centuries-old system determines who gets water first and who gets it last. Stephanie Maltarich reports for Headwaters.

Today we hear another installment of The Colorado Howl by Raymond Toney, distributed by KDUR Durango. Then, Blue Mesa Reservoir once resembled a deep and healthy lake. But a 22-year drought, coupled with obligations to release water to downstream users, has left the reservoir far below the normal high watermark. Experts say it will take a lot more than one snowy winter to refill the reservoir. Reporter Stephanie Maltarich visited both ends of the reservoir to understand its purpose and its future.

Today we hear another edition of The Colorado Howl, by Raymond Toney and KDUR. Plus, the streams, creeks and rivers that run from jagged mountains into Crested Butte’s watersheds are iconic. At a glance, water in creeks and streams around the area is clear and pristine. But the legacy of mining tells a different story. For the Headwaters series, Stephanie Maltarich reports on the continued progress being made by the area’s most upstream stewards.

The Colorado Howl is focused on gray wolf restoration in Colorado following voter approval of Proposition 114 in 2020. The producer is Raymond Toney of Bayfield, a lawyer by trade. Jon Lynch, the Program Director at our Rocky Mountain Community Radio partner station KDUR, based at Fort Lewis College serves as liaison to the project. Plus, for nearly a century, scientists from around the world have studied water and climate in the north end of the Gunnison Valley. And in 2021, the high mountain watershed entered a new chapter: a first-of-its-kind project where scientists will trace snow from where it arrives in the atmosphere, to where it melts into the ground. The research aims to understand water and snow in mountain systems for the first time. This story is the first in a five-episode series, Headwaters, reported by Stephanie Maltarich.

The US Forest Service has released a report into a planned burn that turned into New Mexico's largest-ever wildfire. Anger against the Forest Service is simmering among the thousands affected by the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak fire. Dave Rosenthal of the Mountain West News Bureau reports.A group of Delta County students spoke at the School Board Meeting, describing discrimination and ill treatment. Kate Redmond brings that story.

Potter Bill Wilson joins Gavin Dahl at Studio M to reflect on decades making art in Montrose and talk about his next chapter, moving to Manitou Springs to spend more time with his grandkids. Plus, 11 percent of Colorado kids live in poverty. Kaleb Roedel reports for the Mountain West News Bureau.

There is a new program launching across the state, including here on the Western Slope, called the Colorado Healthcare Corps placing 100 Americorps service members at nonprofit health providers. Gavin Dahl speaks with Maria Fabula from the Community Resource Center, based in Denver. Plus, Kate Redmond has a short piece about the multi-generational Paonia Players who will be part of Cherry Days this summer.