“Running on empty” unfortunately is a very apt description of the Colorado River Basin, which long has had its water overcommitted. Today, the vast watershed that stretches from the mountains of Colorado to the Gulf of California and helps nourish some 30 million residents in the Southwest and Mexico is mired in a long-running drought that threatens to dramatically recast the already-arid region.

President Obama's fiscal year 2015 budget contains a slight, $55 million increase for the National Park Service, though that number could swell to more than $650 million if Congress goes along with the president's vision.

Skeletal remains found in Grand Canyon National Park possibly are those of a man who vanished in the canyon four years ago, according to park officials.