Tapped Out: Power & water justice in the rural West

Part two: November – December 2021

Tapped Out: Power & water in the rural West is part of a collaboration that includes the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN), California Health Report, Center for Collaborative Investigative Journalism, Circle of Blue, Colorado Public Radio, Columbia Insight, The Counter, High Country News, New Mexico In Depth and SJV Water. The project was made possible by a grant from the Water Foundation with additional support from INN and the Fund for Investigative Journalism (FIJ). 

Small farmers struggle as ag titans wheel water for profit

By Lois Henry
SJV Water & CCIJ

November 21, 2021

Record-breaking drought along the Wasatch Front forces tough decisions about water supply.

By Brett Walton
Circle of Blue

November 29, 2021

With farms, ranches and rural communities facing unprecedented threats, a worrying trend leads to a critical question: Who owns the water?

By Eli Francovich
Columbia Insight

Dcember 6, 2021

Agribusiness and its proponents say repairs will benefit disadvantaged towns. Those residents disagree.

By Theo Whitcomb
High Country News

December 8, 2021

By Claudia Boyd-Barrett
California Health Report

December 14, 2021

Part one: May 2021

Tapped Out: Power, justice & water in the West is a collection of stories around power, justice and water in the West. It was made possible by a grant from The Water Desk, with support from Ensia and INN’s Amplify News Project.

These stories are part of a collaboration that includes the Institute for Nonprofit News, California Health Report, Center for Collaborative Investigative Journalism, Circle of Blue, Columbia Insight, Ensia, High Country News, New Mexico In Depth and SJV Water. 

A monitoring program tracks toxic cyanobacteria and influences change.

By Brett Walton
Circle of Blue

May 3, 2021

Toxic blooms are a public health risk and increase water treatment costs.

By Brett Walton
Circle of Blue

May 4, 2021

The tiny town of El Adobe exemplifies the state’s struggles with contaminated water and aging infrastructure.

By Claudia Boyd-Barrett

May 5, 2021

An environmental coalition is lobbying for a moratorium on mega-dairies, which have proliferated in a water-challenged area of northeastern Oregon.

By Dawn Stover

May 6, 2021

By Elizabeth Miller
New Mexico In Depth

May 7, 2021

The Gila River Indian Community is restoring its “lifeblood” back through innovative partnerships and water exchanges.

By Sharon Udasin

May 13, 2021

The very ground upon which Corcoran, Calif., was built has been slowly but steadily collapsing, a situation caused primarily not by nature but agriculture.

By Lois Henry

May 25, 2021