Voters will be asked in November to make Colorado the 19th state with legal sports betting — and, policymakers hope, generate a small pot of new tax revenue in the process. It comes in the wake of a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down a federal prohibition of sports gambling in most of the […]
Water
Posted inEnvironment, Growth, News, Water
Colorado, other Western states oppose federal government plan to charge for reservoir water
By James MacPherson, The Associated Press BISMARCK, N.D. — Attorneys general from a dozen western states want the Trump administration to halt a proposal by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that they say usurps states’ authority over their own water. North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said the Water Supply Rule proposed in the […]
Posted inEnvironment, News, Politics and Government, Water
Deep mountain snow raised Lake Mead, Lake Powell water lines. But for the first time, supply cuts loom downstream.
Bountiful snow in the Rocky Mountains last winter buoyed levels in Lake Mead and Lake Powell, but not enough to prevent the first-ever mandatory cuts in water delivery for Arizona and Nevada under drought contingency plans finalized this spring by the states that rely on the Colorado River Basin. Lake Mead will enter 2020 just […]
Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, Environment, Growth, Water
Aurora spent $34 million on water from a toxic mine. It’s not as crazy as it sounds.
FAIRPLAY — Joe Harrington unfurls the map of the mine he owns, a once notorious source of toxic cadmium and zinc tainting water in the South Platte River basin. He traces his finger along a 20-mile fault line, an underground wall of clay known as the London Fault that runs through the London Mine’s maze […]
Posted inEnvironment, News, Water
Colorado’s snowy winter and wet spring were a boon to the state’s reservoirs. These satellite photos show it.
It’s no secret that Colorado’s wet winter and spring were a big boon for the state’s reservoirs. That’s especially true when you consider the dry 2017-2018 snow season that preceded it. At the start of August, Colorado reservoirs were at 80% their capacity, or 117% their average, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service. A […]
Posted inEnvironment, Outdoors, Water, Wildfire
Climate change is transforming Western forests. And that could have big consequences far beyond wildfires.
LA VETA — From her family’s summer cabin north of Walsenburg, Camille Stevens-Rumann could see the glow of the Spring Creek Fire on the ridge to the south in the summer of 2018. “It was pretty spectacular, my 4-year-old was excited,” she said This past June, Stevens-Rumann walked a burnt slope near the town of […]
Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, Environment, News, Water
Sweet corn put Olathe on the map, but seeds of economic revival didn’t take
When giant, two-story machines called mule jacks lumbered into the corn fields around Olathe this week, it signaled that highly anticipated Western Slope sweet corn was about to hit grocery stores and grills — for the 33rd year running. But change is afoot beyond the million-plus ears of tender, high-sugar corn that will be picked, […]
Posted inCulture, Environment, News, Outdoors, Water
How technology is turning the South Platte River into a wavy, whitewater hot spot
SHERIDAN — The dawn hasn’t yet dimmed the early morning headlights when Ocky Koa, a data analyst in his mid-40s, hops out of his pickup and strolls just past the bike path at River Run Park, where the day’s first recreational cyclists and commuters zip by along Sheridan’s stretch of the South Platte River. There, […]
Posted inEnvironment, Growth, News, Water
Controversy over Denver Water’s Gross Reservoir expansion offers a glimpse into water woes in the West
Tucked out of view in the foothills southwest of Boulder, Gross Reservoir is a mountain oasis surrounded by pine trees, alpine flora and chattering wildlife. On a typical summer day, hikers, campers and kayakers leisurely come and go, lured by the landscape’s beauty. Residents who live on the north shore of the reservoir take their […]
Posted inEnvironment, News, Outdoors, Water
MAP: At least 22 people have died on Colorado’s rivers and reservoirs this year amid fierce runoff
At least 22 people have died on Colorado’s streams, rivers and waterways amid this year’s fierce runoff season. Authorities and weather forecasters have been warning the public to use extra caution when traversing swollen waterways. Three people have died on the Arkansas River, making it the deadliest stretch of water in the state to date. […]