Luke Runyon
NPR
Fort Collins, CO, United States
Contact Luke
Discover and connect with journalists and influencers around the world, save time on email research, monitor the news, and more.
| Recent: |
|
| Past: |
|
Past articles by Luke:
The CDC is looking into a stomach bug outbreak at the Grand Canyon
Hundreds of visitors to the Grand Canyon over the summer were sickened by a norovirus, which prompted the CDC to take a look at it. (Story aired on Weekend Edition Saturday on Sept. 24, 2022.) → Read More
Colorado River megadrought got you down? Feel hope with TikTok's 'WesternWaterGirl'
The river guide's videos offer short explanations for the water woes in the West, garnering her more than 48,000 followers since she started in April. → Read More
Even In An Epically Dry Year, Water Flows Into Parched Colorado River Delta
Seven years ago, a pulse of water on the Colorado River at the U.S.-Mexico border temporarily reconnected it to the Pacific Ocean. Scientists used the so-called “pulse flow” to study what plant and animal life returned to the desiccated delta along with water. → Read More
Amid A Megadrought, Federal Water Shortage Limits Loom For The Colorado River
The government is expected to issue its first water shortage declaration for the river, which supplies more than 40 million people. That will mean hardships for farms, recreation and Indian tribes. → Read More
Workers Scared As Trump Orders Meat Plants To Open During Coronavirus Crisis
The president invoked the Defense Production Act after more than a dozen beef, pork and poultry plants across the country shut down either temporarily or indefinitely in the past few weeks. → Read More
Can A 'Wild' River Survive In A Rapidly Drying West?
Finding a river in the West that still behaves like a Western river -- one that rises and falls with the annual rush of melting snow -- is tough. Many of → Read More
How A 'Perfect Storm' Cut Off Water To This Colorado Town
"Water is the oil of the 21st century. People don't quite understand how difficult it is to run a water system so you have clean drinking water," the town administrator said. → Read More
As Southwest Water Managers Grapple With Climate Change, Can A 'Grand Bargain' Work?
Water managers on the Colorado River are facing a unique moment. With a temporary fix to the river’s scarcity problem recently completed, talk has begun to → Read More
Groundwater Pumping Diminishes Streams Across The Country, Study Finds
Groundwater pumping is causing rivers and small streams throughout the country to decline, according to a new study from researchers at the Colorado School → Read More
Colorado Saw 3 Weather Disasters That Cost A Billion Dollars Or More in 2018
Colorado experienced three natural disasters that each caused more than a billion dollars in damages in 2018. → Read More
Everyone Knows The Colorado River’s Top Agreement Is Flawed. Why Not Fix It?
Colorado River water managers have plenty to argue about. But there’s one thing on which nearly everyone who relies on the southwestern river can agree. → Read More
Colorado River Reservoirs Start Water Year At Lowest Point Since Filled
Key reservoirs along the Colorado River are collectively at their lowest point at the start of a new water year since the last one filled nearly 40 years → Read More
When In Drought: States Take On Urgent Negotiations To Avoid Colorado River Crisis
After years of sustained drought, water managers along the Colorado River system are renegotiating water cutbacks to seven Western states, hoping to avoid more drastic shortages in the future. → Read More
In A Drying Climate, Colorado's 'Water Cop' Patrols For Water Thieves
Sheriff's Deputy Dave Huhn's job has become more important after a series of hot, dry summers have made farmers more desperate for water, and more willing to steal it or go to battle over it. → Read More
As West Grows, Water Use Declines Thanks To Better Toilets
Despite the growth of population in the western U.S., water use in cities such as Denver, Las Vegas, San Diego and Phoenix is going down. The reason? High-tech, low-flow toilets. → Read More
As West Grows, Water Use Declines Thanks To Better Toilets
Despite the growth of population in the western U.S., water use in cities such as Denver, Las Vegas, San Diego and Phoenix is going down. The reason? High-tech, low-flow toilets. → Read More
Flood Waters Fundamentally Changed The Front Range
Five years ago flood waters caused immense damage along Colorado’s northern Front Range and foothills, killing nine people, upending the lives of thousands → Read More
The Bountiful Benefits Of Bringing Back The Beavers
Hundreds of millions of beavers used to populate the West but were hunted to near extinction. Turns out, beavers are critical to healthy water ecosystems, so now there are efforts to bring them back. → Read More
The Bountiful Benefits Of Bringing Back The Beavers
Hundreds of millions of beavers used to populate the West but were hunted to near extinction. Turns out, beavers are critical to healthy water ecosystems, so now there are efforts to bring them back. → Read More
Water Is Leaving Colorado Farmland For The City — But Will It Ever Return?
An old water cliché tells us that “water flows uphill toward money.” It’s an adage born out of people’s frustrations about who benefits when water moves → Read More