Ian James
Ian James reports on how water and climate change are reshaping California and the wider American West for the Los Angeles Times. His coverage follows the movement of water through rivers, reservoirs and aquifers, and the political and scientific fights that determine who gets it and who goes without. He distinguishes himself by treating Western water crises as interconnected systems, weaving federal policy, lawsuits, climate research and the lives of affected communities into clear, explanatory stories.
Colorado River crisis and Western water politics
James devotes sustained attention to the Colorado River, documenting record-low reservoirs and the deepening crisis across the basin.
He covers allocation decisions and emergency plans, including stories on California avoiding the harshest proposed Colorado River cuts and on reservoir levels falling to historic lows. His reporting follows the legal and political fallout of federal decisions, such as Nevada’s lawsuit over the Trump administration’s river plan and the administration’s objections to California’s own water strategy.
He has also reported on earlier Trump-era decisions sparing parts of the Southwest from the toughest water cuts under a Colorado River plan, showing how federal managers balance competing state interests and risk. His Colorado River stories consistently track how negotiated deals, lawsuits and federal objections translate into real consequences for cities, farms and tribal nations that depend on the river.
Groundwater rules, rural areas and climate extremes
Beyond the Colorado River, James closely follows groundwater regulation and its effects on rural communities. His coverage includes tightening groundwater rules in California that put small farmers at risk, detailing how new limits on pumping can threaten livelihoods in agricultural regions that have long relied on wells. He reports on Arizona moves to restrict groundwater pumping in hard-hit areas, showing how state-level crackdowns aim to slow depletion while disrupting established patterns of land and water use.
James also brings climate science into this beat, writing about research that for the first time links heavy mountain snow to groundwater recharge, and explaining how extreme winters can temporarily ease long-term declines in aquifers. He connects these scientific findings with broader trends of drying and water depletion, contributing to coverage of deepening global crisis around groundwater loss.
In newsletter pieces, he follows flood-preparedness work in mountain basins ahead of possible El Niño storms, illustrating how agencies manage both too little and too much water as climate extremes intensify.
Climate change, rivers, ecosystems and industry
James frequently uses individual rivers and ecosystems to show the tangible impacts of climate change. He has reported on a major California river that has grown too warm for its salmon, tying warming water temperatures, dam operations and changing flow patterns to the decline of a keystone species.
His stories examine how industrial activity worsens water scarcity, including coverage of a study finding that the fossil fuel industry is exacerbating Western water shortages by consuming and contaminating limited supplies. He extends this focus on pollution to urban and suburban settings, with reporting on how polluted stormwater runoff from big-box store parking lots can foul downstream waterways and strain infrastructure. James also tracks the financial side of water access, writing about shrinking funds for programs that deliver safe drinking water to Californians with contaminated taps, and exploring how budget cuts can stall solutions for small communities.
Across these pieces, he links climate-driven stress, industrial practices and funding decisions into a clear picture of the pressures on Western water systems and the residents who depend on them.
Reporting approach and background
James focuses his beat on water and climate change in California and the West, combining policy coverage with scientific findings and community-level reporting. His recent work ranges from ranchers in Colorado coping with a warming climate to small farmers navigating new groundwater limits, reflecting a consistent emphasis on how environmental change reshapes economies and ways of life.
He often builds his stories around specific events - lawsuits, policy shifts, new studies or crises in rivers and aquifers - and then steps back to explain the larger system and long-term trends behind them. Earlier in his career he reported on environment and water issues for regional newspapers in the Southwest and for a global news agency, including work as a correspondent in the Caribbean and a bureau chief in Venezuela, experience that informs his attention to cross-border dynamics and international implications of water scarcity.
At the Los Angeles Times he continues that trajectory, using Western water politics, climate science and local narratives to produce coverage that is both technically detailed and accessible to non-specialist audiences.
4 more environment journalists.
Alan Halaly
Alan Halaly is a water reporter at the Las Vegas Review-Journal who treats the Colorado River as a working system, not a backdrop, making its governance, infrastructure and risks central to his beat. He covers how policy decisions and infrastructure projects shape the region’s water future, linking high-level choices on the Colorado River, dams, mining and data centers to everyday consequences under mounting heat and growth pressures. He reports deeply on new laws, lawsuits and regulatory shifts, focusing on on-the-ground impacts. His coverage spans Colorado River cuts, Hoover Dam operations, extreme weather, heat and parks, septic system rules, workplace and public health risks, lithium and gold mines, protected landscapes, data centers, AI infrastructure and public funding. Previously he reported for metropolitan dailies, digital outlets and public media, including the Miami Herald, WUFT, The Daily Beast and Miami New Times, with work recognized by Hearst, ONA and the Society of Environmental Journalists.
Alejandra Borunda
Alejandra Borunda reports on how climate change affects human health for NPR. Her work treats global warming as a direct cause of physical and mental health risks. She covers extreme heat, including undercounted deaths, lost sleep and local efforts to track heat-related fatalities. She also reports on wildfire smoke, hurricanes, disease spread such as dengue fever, trauma, stress and unequal health impacts. Her stories examine how communities protect themselves and recover, as well as practical solutions involving climate-resilient crops, agriculture and diet. Before NPR, she wrote about climate science and environmental issues for National Geographic, including glacier retreat, shade and heat inequity, and shrinking ice-fishing seasons. A former climate scientist, she combines field reporting with scientific data to connect atmospheric research to everyday risks, choices and people’s lived experiences.
Alex Lubben
Alex Lubben is an environment reporter at The Times-Picayune/The Advocate who connects climate risk to policy, industry and community change. He covers Gulf warming, flood protection, coastal restoration, wetlands litigation, industrial projects such as SpaceX’s possible expansion, invasive species and local ecosystems. His reporting tracks how law, politics and corporate decisions shape levees, drainage, marshes and long-term resilience. He also examines climate relocation, housing and labor, showing how hurricanes, floods and wildfires displace vulnerable communities and expose gaps in government systems. He works on a small environment team and brings an investigative background to document work, data analysis, legal and policy research, and field reporting. His work has appeared in VICE News, The Center for Public Integrity, The Nation, Jewish Currents and NBC News.
Alex Wigglesworth
Alex Wigglesworth reports on how climate, land use and public policy shape California communities. She covers the Inland Empire and Mojave Desert for the Los Angeles Times and is part of its environment team. Her beat includes wildfires, megadrought, extreme weather, desert development, conservation, wildlife, industrial hazards, aging infrastructure and regulatory enforcement. She has covered Western Joshua trees, desert tortoises, beaver-led restoration, toxic lead pipes, air-quality concerns after industrial fires and the effects of nuclear war on food systems. Earlier, she was a general assignment reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, Daily News and Philly.com. She combines breaking news with detailed reporting grounded in scientific studies, modeling and expert interviews. Her work connects fires, drought and other hazards to climate change, while examining how agencies, companies and land-use decisions affect people and ecosystems.