Editor’s Note: The Denver metro region sits at the center of one of the American West’s most complex and consequential water challenges. This series examines the interconnected systems that determine how the region secures, stores and conserves its water while navigating the competing demands of fast‑growing urban communities and the increasingly unpredictable mountain snowpack that underpins the entire system.
The mighty Colorado River — which carved the Grand Canyon and supplies water to 40 million people across seven states — starts as snow in the Rocky Mountains.
This year, there wasn’t much of it…