Federal Plan Spares Colorado Water Cuts

The federal government released a two-year Colorado River management plan Friday that requires Arizona, California, and Nevada to cut water use while asking Colorado only to conserve voluntarily.

Arizona will give up 760,000 acre-feet a year, California 440,000, and Nevada 50,000 in Hoover Dam releases in 2027 and 2028.

Upstream states face no mandatory reductions. Becky Mitchell, Colorado’s commissioner to the Upper Colorado River Commission, said the Lower Basin had no cuts until 2022 despite nearly 20 years of record drought.

Arizona has hired outside counsel and warned that it may take its compact claims to court, saying the federal plan has given the state no basis on which to plan.

State Ends Medicaid Sex-Change Coverage

Colorado will suspend Medicaid coverage of hormone therapy, puberty blockers, and related procedures for patients under 18 beginning Oct. 13, the agency that runs the program said.

The change follows a federal rule finalized this month barring federal dollars from the care. Patients already taking hormones keep coverage through a six-month taper.

About 500 Coloradans under 19 received hormone therapy through Medicaid in the 2024-25 fiscal year, roughly 0.1% of the 450,000 children on the program.

Colorado could cover the care with state dollars, but only with legislative authorization, which cannot come until lawmakers return in January.

Governor Hopefuls Court Water Congress Crowd

Democrat Attorney General Phil Weiser told the Colorado Water Congress in Steamboat Springs on Thursday he would appoint a rural outreach director and a water policy adviser if elected governor.

Weiser pointed to his office’s work on Nebraska’s Perkins County Canal claim, Colorado River talks, and a Rio Grande compact case. On piping San Luis Valley water to Douglas County, he said, “Over my dead body.”

Republican nominee Victor Marx spoke Wednesday and pitched storage as the fix, arguing the state should bank water in wet years. He told the room he holds water rights himself.

Marx also called for faster permitting, healthier forests, and stronger federal and private partnerships, and said Colorado does not need a governor who manages decline.

Flying together with our sponsor

➤ Aurora: In a separate case from the state’s tuberculosis lawsuit, a federal judge ruled Thursday that GEO Group need not follow parts of a new state law requiring quarterly unannounced inspections at its ICE processing center, through the contract’s Oct. 15 expiration. (See Details)   

➤ Pueblo County: The Aspen Acres Fire reached 77% containment Friday and held at 102,004 acres, with 135 people still assigned. Crews are reinforcing fire lines, removing hazardous trees, and repairing culverts across the burn area. (More)

➤ Broomfield: NASA and Katalyst Space called off the rescue of the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory after the company’s Link spacecraft, assembled at Katalyst’s Broomfield plant, lost two of three reaction wheels. Link will still practice close approaches. (See Details)

➤ Boulder: The Environmental Defense Fund sued the Trump administration Aug. 20 to stop the breakup of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, arguing officials skipped required historic preservation reviews before moving to close the Mesa Lab, completed in 1967. (More)

➤ Statewide: A proposed constitutional right to hunt and fish qualified for the November ballot, the secretary of state’s office confirmed Thursday. Backers of Initiative 302 turned in about 184,000 signatures, of which 145,000 were valid. (See Details)

➤ Fort Collins: Poudre School District sent most students home two hours early Thursday as temperatures climbed, its standard response to extreme heat. More than 30 schools still lack air conditioning, and the district says outfitting them all will take several years. (More)

Enjoy reading The Colorado Flyover? Click here to share with your friends and family. ✈️

➤ CSU will open the 2026 football season with a military appreciation game against rival Wyoming at Canvas Stadium, honoring active-duty and veteran service members with pregame ceremonies. (More)

➤ Taco Bell’s Buffs Box returned to Colorado locations this week for a second season, featuring collectible cups with four CU football players. $200 will be donated to the Golden Buffalo Scholarship Fund for every point Colorado scores in the regular season. (More)

➤ Colorado football’s Boo Carter, who transferred from Tennessee as a defensive back, could see offensive snaps this season in a Travis Hunter-style two-way role under coach Deion Sanders. (More)

➤ The Denver Broncos signed veteran safety Taylor Rapp, a former second-round pick who started 72 games across seven seasons with the Rams and Bills. Rapp has recorded 12 interceptions and 488 tackles in his career. (More)

➤ Yesterday’s Results: NFL | MLB | WNBA | Golf | Little League World Series | Soccer

Flying together with our sponsor

➤ Life Insurance Without the Hassle. Getting covered shouldn’t take weeks or a medical exam. Ethos makes it simple to get a life insurance policy in as little as 10 minutes, all online, with no needles and no waiting rooms (just answer few health questions online). Affordable Term Life coverage up to $3M. Click here to get your instant quote and help protect your family’s future today.

Flying together with our sponsor

How Solving Camping’s Biggest Problem Earned $150M+

Most people love the idea of being outdoors. Almost nobody loves what it takes to get there.

Campsites book months in advance. Gear’s expensive and collects dust. RV ownership’s a financial and logistical burden. Hotels are comfortable, but lose the very thing people were chasing in the first place.

AutoCamp solves all that. Guests arrive with a suitcase, check in like a hotel, and wake up at an iconic outdoor destination like Yosemite or Joshua Tree. But instead of hard ground and outhouses, they have a boutique room or custom-designed Airstream trailer with a spa-inspired bathroom.

And travelers can’t get enough, with 1M+ happy campers so far. That’s earned $150M+ in location revenue for property owners operating with the Company’s Brands since inception. 

Now you can invest as AutoCamp works to scale from 9 locations to 100+.

This is a paid advertisement for AutoCamp Regulation CF offering. Please read the offering circular at https://invest.autocamp.com/

➤ The 154th Colorado State Fair opens Aug. 28 in Pueblo and runs through Sept. 7 under the theme Celebrate Your Fairitage. The lineup includes PRCA rodeo nights and concerts from Jordan Davis, Dylan Scott, Ian Munsick, and Vanilla Ice. (See Lineup)

➤ Vail Pass is getting Colorado’s first combined avalanche and rockfall fence, above Interstate 70 at mile point 186, the stretch known as the Narrows. Slides there can cross all four lanes and take crews five or six hours to clear. (More)

➤ The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe signed a memorandum of understanding this week with Colorado Parks and Wildlife and Gov. Jared Polis recognizing the tribe’s authority over wolves on its reservation south of Cortez. Colorado’s voter-approved wolf reintroduction began in 2023. (More)

Flying together with our sponsor

➤ Swollen Feet and Ankles? There May Be Another Approach. Tight rings and swollen ankles are often blamed on salt, standing, or aging. But researchers are exploring how a specific type of Antarctic omega-3 may help support the body’s natural response to age-related swelling. Discover why adults over 50 are taking a closer look at this unique omega-3. Learn More >>

The following stories are featured exclusively on The Flyover Podcast—a daily show that gives you the most important headlines in under 15 minutes, straight from the heart of the country. Clicking the link will take you directly to these stories:

➤ How long will you live? Decades of research say your daily habits already know. (Hear Details)

➤ The Pentagon and independent trackers are telling two very different stories about oil moving through the Strait of Hormuz. (Listen Now)

➤ Eight people were aboard a charter plane headed for a remote Alaska military radar site when it crashed. (Podcast Available)

Are you a fan of The Walking Dead?

1. Love it
2. Hate it
3. It’s okay
4. Haven’t seen it

Yesterday’s Results:

Have you ever had bison meat?

1. Yes: 86%
2. No: 14%

Which town served as Colorado’s first territorial capital in 1861, before the legislature moved to Golden?

Show me the answer