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Colorado guides

Evergreen explainers from our reporters: how the state works, and how to live in it. Verified, sourced, and kept current.

The Colorado River in canyon country. Colorado's prior appropriation system governs who gets the water and in what order.

Guides

How Colorado water law works

First in time, first in right: the seniority system, the water courts, and the compacts that govern every drop in the state.

Rafael Duarte · 2026-09-29

Downtown Denver from the 41st and Fox station. The Front Range holds most of the state's people, jobs, and institutions.

Guides

Front Range vs Western Slope, explained

The Continental Divide splits Colorado into two different states in everything but name: people, water, economies, and politics.

Anna Moreau · 2026-09-29

The Denver skyline. The Mile High City sits a mile above sea level, and the thin, dry air is the first thing newcomers should learn.

Guides

A newcomer's guide to Denver

Altitude, dry air, spring snow, watering rules, and a city that is also a county: the practical facts for settling into the Mile High City.

Lucia Fernandez · 2026-09-29

The Colorado State Capitol in Denver. The General Assembly's 100 members, 35 senators and 65 representatives, meet here each winter and spring.

Guides

How the state legislature works

One hundred lawmakers, 120 days, committees, vetoes, and the citizen initiative: how Colorado's General Assembly makes law.

Erik Dahl · 2026-09-29

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