©2010 summit daily news  

Of all the current and future impacts of climate change, threats to water resources may be the most painful in the American West, according to a new report.

“Protecting the lifeline of the West,” written by Western Resource Advocates, a Boulder-based environmental law and policy organization, brings together dozens of studies by climate and water experts, detailing the ways in which water, energy and climate are deeply entwined in states like Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and Arizona.

“Of all the implications of a hotter climate, the water implications are the most dramatic or long-term,” said Bart Miller, the organization's water-program director. “There's no way to adjust by making more water.”

The report's release coincided with the U.S. Senate's return to Washington to take up energy and climate legislation this week. Read more.