San Luis Valley counties band together in bid to delay or shut down water sales to Front Range, beyond
Citizens for San Luis Valley Water
In the San Luis Valley, a community fights for its land, water and way of life
Every summer in Colorado’s San Luis Valley, a long, high desert valley ringed by mountains, Jose Martinez watches in admiration as water flows from an irrigation pipe across the contours of his land, feeding the 8 acres of alfalfa he grows near his home in San Francisco, a town of fewer than 90 people. The […]
Video opinion: Battle over San Luis Valley water draws in sandhill cranes
Sandhill cranes have been migrating through the San Luis Valley of Colorado for thousands of years. The Rio Grande River likely attracted the first cranes to the Valley, providing the ideal habitat and abundant food resources that they required to complete their migration. Early settlers brought agriculture to the San Luis Valley with them. To […]
As metro Denver grows, another caller wants to tap the vast aquifer under the San Luis Valley
This story was published in collaboration with Bitterroot, an online magazine about the politics, economy, culture and environment of the West. An adobe arch spans a well-kept dirt road northwest of Crestone, wooden arms protruding from its sides. The name Rancho Rosado is engraved in the weathered brown wood, the red letters fading to pink. Behind the arch, […]