Denver Magazine's Water Story Wins Western Environmental Journalism Prize

Detail from "Dry Times" layout

The Denver magazine 5280 has won the 2011 Knight-Risser Prize for Western Environmental Journalism for "Dry Times," an eye-catching story on the strain wrought by galloping development on the region's water supply. The authors, Natasha Gardner and Patrick Doyle, will share the annual $5,000 prize and participate in a symposium on journalism and western water issues at Stanford University on January 25, 2012. 

 "In 12 short pages loaded with great graphics, the folks at 5280 managed to take a subject that only wonks can love, and make it understandable by the common person," said Bradley Udall of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a source for the story. "From agriculture to aging infrastructure, climate change to contamination, dishwashers to dams, and even recreation to re-use, the article conveys the multiple interactions and difficult trade-offs inherent in managing this precious and limited resource," he said.

Also receiving recognition from the judges were stories by CaliforniaWatch/KQED Radio and High Country News. The Knight-Risser Prize for Western Environmental Journalism is co-administered by the Bill Lane Center for the American West and the John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships at Stanford University.

Read more at the Knight-Risser Prize for Western Environmental Journalism »