The Yampa River, which flows through the Western Slope of Colorado, was once thought to be the last "wild" river in the state.

Some call it "the last frontier" of water use, where ranchers take what they need without measuring. But now, the impact of two decades of drought has forced a change many never believed would come. Not only that, but a future of aridity, climate change and dwindling water could mean even more restriction.

As the state starts to enforce a rule that's been on the Colorado books since the 1870s, ranchers in the Yampa River basin grapple with how to maintain their shrinking independence — and everyone struggles with the question of what comes next.

“The Wild West of Water” was produced in part for KGNU with a generous grant from Connecting the Drops, a radio collaboration between Water Education Colorado and Rocky Mountain Community Radio stations. The condensed radio version, which was broadcast in December of 2019, won the regional Mark of Excellence Award for in-depth radio reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists.

This project is part of a master’s thesis for the College of Media, Communication and Information at the University of Colorado Boulder.