Over the past 22 years, the state has only seen short breaks from drought often followed by longer, more severe drought conditions.
Dillon Reservoir
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Economy, Environment, News, Outdoors, Water
Climate change is eroding work to clean up the Snake River. Is Summit County snowmaking making it worse?
KEYSTONE – The Snake River wends through this resort village, rushing streamside condos, beckoning anglers to cast after rainbow trout and, at some point in the year, funneling into equipment Keystone ski area uses to make snow. But a few miles upstream, the river is a braid of smaller streams that scour a mineral-rich basin […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors
The reason you aren’t allowed to swim in Dillon Reservoir may surprise you
By Lindsey Toomer, The Summit Daily Water-contact sports, such as swimming, scuba diving, water skiing and wakeboarding, are all prohibited in Dillon Reservoir — but why? Basically, because the water is too cold, making it dangerous for recreationists. The reservoir is owned and managed by Denver Water, which means all decisions relating to the body […]
Posted inColoradans, Environment, Outdoors
Determining how much water Colorado’s snowpack will yield is an inexact science, but researchers persist
On a sunny April day at the tail end of last winter, Jeff Deems, a researcher at the Boulder-based National Snow and Ice Data Center, and Nathan Elder, the water supply manager for Denver Water, used snowshoes to reach a point high above the Blue River in Summit County. There they dug a pit, which […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors
Pre-season training preps avalanche dogs from Colorado and far beyond for search and rescue
DILLON — Luna yelps as she streaks through the lodgepole pines in a blur. “She wants it so bad. She loves to play,” says her handler, Scott Stolte, the assistant director of ski patrol at Wyoming’s Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Luna, the youngest member of the Jackson Hole Ski Patrol, takes mere seconds to find […]
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 inNews, Politics and Government, Transportation
Hazmat tankers want off “sketchy” Loveland Pass and into tunnels. Years of debate could be decided once and for all.
In a snowstorm, it can be an unsettling site: a tractor-trailer pulling a massive tanker filled with hazardous materials up the switchbacks on Loveland Pass. Impatient ski traffic weaves around the vehicle while, on both sides of slick, two-lane U.S. 6, there are steep drop-offs that mostly lack guardrails. That’s not to mention the crowded […]