The relationship between dry soil conditions in the fall and spring runoff has gained more attention in recent years across the Colorado River Basin
Colorado River Water Conservation District
Posted inClimate, News, Newsletters, Outdoors, Outsider, Politics and Government, Water
Should river towns be forced to build costly parks to get recreational water rights?
American Whitewater floated a plan last year to expand protections for recreational river flows in Colorado. Maybe, the nonprofit protector of rivers thought, communities should not need to build whitewater parks to secure rights for recreational flows. “It definitely, you know, got some ears perked,” said Hattie Johnson, American Whitewater’s southern Rockies stewardship director. Colorado […]
Posted inClimate, Environment, Water
It wasn’t just I-70 that suffered after Glenwood Canyon slides. The Colorado River took a blow, too.
When a mud and rock slide buried one of the more important highways in the West on July 29, the dramatic gridlock became a statewide spectator sport. That same historic rock slide, at the same moment, blocked off the most important river in the West. After decades of fierce arguments over damming up more of […]
Posted inClimate, Environment, News, Outdoors, Water
Bird count examines what happens when high-country Colorado irrigators use less water
By Heather Sackett, Aspen Journalism KREMMLING — In the gray light of dawn, hundreds of swallows darted over a pool of standing water in an irrigated field along the Colorado River. The birds were attracted to the early-morning mosquitos swarming the saturated landscape. Bill Vetter, a wildlife biologist with Wyoming-based Precision Wildlife Resources, methodically counted […]
Posted inClimate, Coloradans, Economy, Environment, News, Outdoors, Water
Colorado’s Water Plan has made progress toward ensuring supply, but the work’s far from done
By Sarah Kuta, Fresh Water News In the five years since Colorado’s Water Plan took effect, the state has awarded nearly $500 million in loans and grants for water projects, cities have enacted strict drought plans, communities have written nearly two dozen locally based stream-restoration plans and crews have been hard at work on improving […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Crime and Courts, Economy, Environment, News
Colorado’s ornery, independent water guardians finally agree on one thing: Wall Street can look elsewhere
The calls came in shortly after the story in The New York Times announced Wall Street was on the prowl for “billions in the Colorado’s water.” “Can you help us? How do we get started?” wondered the New York financiers, pals of Andy Mueller, the manager of the Colorado River Water Conservation District. “My response […]
Posted inClimate, Environment, News, Newsletters, Outsider
Record low Lake Powell and bad 2021 drought forecast sets stage for water cuts
The dry 2020 and the lack of snow this season has water managers in seven states preparing for the first time for cutbacks outlined in drought contingency plans drafted two years ago. A sobering forecast released this week by the Bureau of Reclamation shows the federally owned Lake Mead and Lake Powell — the nation’s […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Protecting rivers is key to preparing Colorado for wildfires
Contrary to the common phrase, fire and water actually do mix – and there’s often a direct connection between the two. This year in particular, wildfires have gripped Colorado with historic magnitude. And while we often think of property damage and air quality as the most immediate consequences of severe wildfire, rivers and drinking water […]
Posted inUncategorized
Glenwood Springs needs $10.5 million — right now — to prepare for watershed impacts of Grizzly Creek Fire
GLENWOOD CANYON — Standing mere feet from where a human-caused spark on Interstate 70 above the Colorado River ignited the now 32,000-acre Grizzly Creek fire, Jonathan Godes painted a nightmare scenario that could have been. Glenwood Springs’ mayor said if that spark had been 5 miles downstream and exploded into a wildfire the size of […]
Posted inEnvironment, Growth, News, Politics and Government, Water
Water crisis looms if Colorado fails to meet its legal obligations to other states, study warns
Water sufficient for more than 1 million homes on the Front Range could be lost and thousands of acres of farmland on the Western Slope and Eastern Plains could go dry if the state can’t supply enough water from the drought-stricken Colorado River to downstream states as it is legally required to do, according to […]