TELLER COUNTY — Until Colorado water authorities announced a plan to cap it and locals started a petition drive to save it, the little spring at Gillette Flats never inspired much reflection. No one knows when someone first stuck a pipe in the ground to tap the water burbling up a few miles north of […]
Water
Posted inEnvironment, News, Water
All of this snow is great, but it will likely be months before we know the impact on Colorado’s drought
You’re seeing the pictures of deep snow being surfed by skiers and snowboarders across the state. The Colorado Department of Transportation is working double time to keep high country stretches of highways passable. But if you were expecting an overnight solution to Colorado’s drought, which has been particularly acute in the southwest part of the […]
Posted inEnvironment, News, Water
Colorado’s snow season is starting off strong. These satellite photos tell the story.
Colorado’s snow season is starting off strong, giving the state’s drought-parched agricultural industry high hopes for a quenching runoff come spring. “Definitely been a good start here,” said Russell Danielson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boulder. “Overall, the state has seen pretty healthy precipitation, snowpack so far this fall.” Compared with last […]
Posted inEnvironment, Growth, Health, News, Water
Aurora officials say water in Colorado is increasingly difficult to find. So they’ve tapped an inactive mine.
A Denver suburb has finalized an unusual deal to acquire water from an inactive gold mine. Aurora city officials said Friday the $34 million deal gives the city the rights to about 1,400 acre-feet of water a year from the London Mine outside Alma, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) to the west. An acre-foot is […]
Posted inEnvironment, News, Water
Colorado’s drought persists, with abnormally dry conditions covering 83 percent of the state
Colorado’s drought is persisting, with about 83 percent of the state listed under some level of abnormally dry conditions and a growing area of severe and extreme aridity. A U.S. Drought Monitor Report released Thursday shows no significant improvement in drought conditions across Colorado dating back to Oct. 9. Although the percentage of the state […]
Posted inEnvironment, News, Outdoors, Water
El Nino weather pattern could bring drought relief to Colorado, broader southwestern U.S.
By Tim Talley, The Associated Press OKLAHOMA CITY — Climatologists said Wednesday that conditions are right for an El Nino weather pattern to develop that could bring wetter-than-normal conditions this winter in drought-stricken areas of the southwestern U.S. But they also note there is no guarantee that an El Nino event would bring more rain […]
Posted inBusiness, Environment, News, Outdoors, Water
How Colorado’s ski resorts can continue making snow in drought years like this one
Reservoirs have turned to dust. Farmers have fallow fields. But don’t expect the skiing to languish. Ski resorts have spent many decades amassing water rights and water storage and continuously upgrading snowmaking systems to make the state’s vibrant, multibillion-dollar resort industry virtually immune to drought — so long as this winter, farmers and ranchers have […]
Posted inEnvironment, Growth, News, Outdoors, Water
Plan to slow creeping Colorado River crisis could drain more water from Blue Mesa, Flaming Gorge reservoirs
Nearly two decades into a pervasive drought that has more to do with a warming climate than precipitation, the seven states that rely on the Colorado River are nearing completion of a seven-year plan to protect water in the West. The Upper Colorado River Basin Drought Contingency Plan — one of the most significant proposals […]
Posted inBusiness, Environment, News, Outdoors, Politics and Government, Water
Arizona officials look to reach Colorado River drought deal on water-use cutbacks
PHOENIX — Progress is being made in talks toward a set of agreements for cities, farmers and tribes to share in Colorado River water cutbacks, according to Arizona water officials. The Arizona Republic reports that the state water officials also want to join in a larger proposed deal to prevent Lake Mead from dropping even further. Arizona water […]
Posted inBusiness, Environment, Growth, News, Outdoors, Water
After long regarding the South Platte as not much more than a sewer, is metro Denver ready to love its river?
The man in the wide-brimmed hat waded into thigh-deep, slowly moving water and, with a whip of his fly rod, sent his cast into a deeper, swifter channel along the far bank where elusive trout were more likely to lurk. The scene might have played out on any stretch of Colorado’s renowned fishing waters. But […]