The drive to legalize sports betting in Colorado united Republicans and Democrats at the state Capitol, and similarly, the opposition to Proposition DD is bringing together two disparate groups of critics. The November ballot question is drawing criticism from religious conservatives who label gambling as a sin and a faction of the environmental community concerned […]
Colorado Water Plan
Posted inCulture, Environment, Growth, News, Outdoors, Politics and Government, Water
Prop. DD explained: What sports gambling would mean in Colorado and how much (or little) it would generate
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 […]
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 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, 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 inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Colorado rivers and water security — worth the investment
Reports continue to flow into newspapers across Colorado about the record snowpack and stream flows we’re experiencing. We’re incredibly fortunate for this year’s wet weather, but we know that we can’t rely on unpredictable weather patterns to get us out of the drought, water shortages and low river flows we’ve experienced for most of the […]
Posted inColoradans, Environment, Health, News, Water
Tiny Branson has plenty of water. But like other small rural delivery systems in Colorado, it must find a way to meet new state standards.
BRANSON — The remote beauty of the landscape and this rustic town’s time-worn structures harmonize in a traditional rural narrative of self-sufficiency, an up-by-your-bootstraps ranchland culture cradled by a wall of mesas to the south, the Mesa de Maya to the east and, off to the west, the snow-tipped Spanish Peaks. The southernmost town in […]
Posted inBusiness, Environment, News, Politics and Government, Water
Voters could decide on legal Colorado sports betting in November; tax revenue would go toward state’s water plan
Colorado voters are likely to be asked in November to legalize sports betting and approve a 10 percent tax on net proceeds from the wagering that would mainly go toward paying for the state’s water plan. House Bill 1327 was introduced Thursday afternoon with bipartisan sponsorship. It asks lawmakers to send the legalization and taxation […]