Upper basin officials are still reluctant to say that Wednesday’s motion is a move toward a long-term conservation program for the upper basin.
Category: Water
Our water desk, staffed by Heather Sackett, produces the most authoritative reporting available on Roaring Fork and upper Colorado river basin water policy and politics.
Grizzly Reservoir work will result in more water flowing west
The Twin Lakes exchange was meant to lessen the impacts of another big transmountain diversion project in the headwaters of the Roaring Fork: the Twin Lakes system.
Group to focus on water for the environment
Still, river flows can be a proxy for ecosystem health, and some say target recommendations are essential.
Reservoir releases will boost peak Colorado River flows this weekend
Releasing the water out of reservoirs this week adds to this natural snowmelt peak and creates a cold flushing flow that clears out excess sediment built up on the cobbles favored by spawning fish.
Using less of the Colorado River takes a willing farmer and $45 million in federal funds
Of all the challenges in setting up a program such as this — funding, pricing, calculating water saved, getting the word out — the biggest may be the attitudes of water users themselves, some of whom have a deep-seated mistrust of the federal government.
Climate change causing increase in metals concentrations in streams, study finds
“These trends are concerning because, even at low concentrations, dissolved metals can negatively affect downstream ecosystem health and the quality of water resources,” reads the paper, which was published in Water Resources Research in late April.
CPW proposes increase to Fryingpan River fish harvest
But the effectiveness of that approach may be limited because according to the CPW survey, only 15% of anglers take their fish home while 85% practice catch and release.
River District grants $550K more for reservoir project
In January, the Army Corps found that even though Wolf Creek flows only seasonally during spring snowmelt and after rainstorms, it still has a “relatively permanent flow” and is therefore categorized as one of the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) and is under the jurisdiction of the Army Corps.
Bill would protect Yampa Valley coal plants’ water from abandonment
Tri-State plans to shut down its coal-fired power plant in Craig in 2028, the same year that Xcel Energy plans to close the Hayden Generating Station, which has prompted questions about what will happen to the water currently being used by the facilities.
Wet March boosts snowpack, streamflow forecasts
But there are other factors that could affect how much water ultimately ends up in rivers and eventually in the nation’s second largest reservoir, Lake Powell.