Northern Water says river levels still too high to quantify full damage to project meant to restore fish and wildlife.
Windy Gap
Posted inClimate, Environment, News, Water
It took 10 years to plan a channel around a Colorado River reservoir. Collaboration went well, but urgency was lacking.
GRANBY — Old-timers around here talk about how they used to need to stop after a springtime drive through Byers Canyon to clean all the bugs out of their radiators. So when longtime angler Bud Isaacs noticed the absence of a stonefly hatch on his favorite stretch of the Colorado River below the 445-acre Windy […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors
Plan to reconnect the Colorado River for the first time since 1985 gets major donation
A brand new stretch of the Colorado River is closer to reality in Grand County. A $2 million donation by PepsiCo has pushed a consortium led by Trout Unlimited closer to its $27.1 million plan to build a 1-mile channel around the Windy Gap Reservoir, which has blocked fish passage and separated the river since […]
Posted inOpinion
Opinion: The Windy Gap settlement is a win for the Western Slope and its waters
The history of Western Colorado’s water is told in stories of hard-fought wins and losses, of lawsuits and government petitions, of tough negotiations and collaboration. In Grand County, the history of Western Slope water — and Front Range demand for that water — is more visible than in other areas west of the Continental Divide. […]
Posted inBusiness, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
We now know how many billions of gallons of water Colorado will save by closing coal-fired power plants
The closing of 30 coal-fired generating units across the West – including 10 in Colorado – could free-up more than 76 billion gallons of river and groundwater a year in the increasingly parched region, although utilities appear cautious about giving up their water rights. An analysis by the Energy and Policy Institute, a non-profit, utility […]
Posted inEducation, Environment, Growth, Outdoors, Politics and Government, Water
After decades of negotiations, restoration efforts on Colorado’s heavily diverted Fraser River are showing signs of success
For decades, the Fraser River has struggled with low flows, rising stream temperatures, sediment build-up, plummeting fish populations and degrading aquatic habitats due in large part to Front Range water diversions that drain 65% of the river. But after years of heated negotiations — and the formation of a partnership between environmentalists, Grand County officials […]