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Aspen Journalism
City helping Aspen restaurants comply with compost mandate
Jimena Baldino spends part of every week checking dumpsters — or rather, the relatively new green compost bins that sit next to dumpsters in Aspen’s alleys. She stands on tiptoe to lift the huge, heavy metal latch and peek in the bear-proof containers. “I can tell from looking...
Ranchers and city share water with the environment
When Euro-American settlers first started using the water in the Roaring Fork and Crystal river valleys 140 years ago, the concept of leaving enough for the sake of a healthy environment didn’t exist. Water that ran downstream without being put to beneficial use either growing crops or growing cities was considered wasted.
Aspen Journalism wins with three awards in Society of Professional Journalists Top of the Rockies contest
Aspen Journalism was recently honored by the Society of Professional Journalists with three awards in the Top of the Rockies Excellence in Journalism competition for long-form, in depth and data driven reporting projects completed in 2023. Top of the Rockies is a regional, multi-platform contest for reporters and news organizations...
Colorado River officials propose tracking conserved water
Water managers in the upper Colorado River basin took another step this week toward a more formal water conservation program that they say will benefit the upper basin states. Representatives from Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico unanimously passed a motion Wednesday at a meeting of the Upper Colorado River Commission to explore creating a way to track, measure and store conserved water in Lake Powell and other upper basin reservoirs.
Grizzly Reservoir work will result in more water flowing west
Local rivers are seeing more water this summer because a high-alpine dam and reservoir maintenance project is preventing diversions to the Front Range. The Twin Lakes Reservoir & Canal Co. will not take part in the usual movement of water known as the Twin Lakes exchange agreement this year because of a major maintenance project at Grizzly Reservoir. That means more water for the Western Slope — in Hunter Creek and the Roaring Fork River.
Group to focus on water for the environment
In an effort to elevate the needs of the environment in water management, the state of Colorado is convening a new committee that is scheduled to begin meeting this summer. The Colorado Water Conservation Board and Boulder-based nonprofit River Network are creating a pilot program known as the Environmental Flows Cohort, which will assess how much water is needed to maintain healthy streams and how to meet these flow recommendations. The cohort will include not just environmental advocates, but agricultural and municipal water users, who may initially feel threatened by environmental flow recommendations.
Housing solutions are many and challenging
“They’re really a beautiful community. They care for each other. They’re willing to work together. It’s a small community and everybody feels welcome when they come together. They ask how they can help each other. And that’s inspiring.”. — Brianda Cervantes, housing advocate, 3-Mile Mobile Home...
Reservoir releases will boost peak Colorado River flows this weekend
Reservoir operators on the Western Slope will ramp up releases this week to boost peak flows for the benefit of endangered fish in the Colorado River. Known as Coordinated Reservoir Operations (CROS), five reservoirs will voluntarily send a pulse of water that arrives at the 15-mile reach near Grand Junction at the same time as the peak spring runoff. Fueled by warm temperatures this week, river flows at the Cameo gauge, just upstream of the Grand Valley, are expected to hit between 18,000 and 18,500 cubic feet per second around Saturday or Sunday, according to the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center.
Housing: Where social justice confronts economics
Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs” lists shelter as a fundamental requirement for a secure life. But thousands of people living and working in our economic region — from Aspen to Parachute — are coping with housing insecurity. “We need upward of 6,000 homes just to house...
Using less of the Colorado River takes a willing farmer and $45 million in federal funds
PINEDALE, Wyo. — Wyoming native Leslie Hagenstein lives on the ranch where she grew up and remembers her grandmother and father delivering milk in glass bottles from the family’s Mount Airy Dairy. The cottonwood-lined property, at the foot of the Wind River Mountains south of Pinedale, is not...
Data dashboard: Winter occupancy reaches 59% in Aspen and Snowmass
Aspen Journalism is compiling a data dashboard highlighting metrics of local public interest, updated weekly. Lodges in Aspen and Snowmass record 59% occupancy this winter. Paid occupancy in Aspen reached 35.5% in April, down from 40.2% last year. Snowmass recorded 42.6% paid occupancy, up from 2023’s 33.3%, according to the April 2024 occupancy report for Aspen and Snowmass lodges, compiled by local tourism officials and reservations tracking firm Destimetrics. April occupancy reached 38.3% for the two towns combined this year, up from 36.7% last year.
Climate change causing increase in metals concentrations in streams, study finds
Colorado’s mountains are pockmarked with orange tailings piles, adits, tunnels and rusted tramways, the remnants of a historic mining industry often blamed for fouling the state’s waterways. But a recent study points the finger at a different culprit as the cause of increasing metals concentrations in Colorado’s high...
Data dashboard: Local streamflows on the rise
Aspen Journalism is compiling a data dashboard highlighting metrics of local public interest, updated weekly. At Stillwater, located upstream of Aspen, the Roaring Fork River ran at 165 cfs on May 19, or 75.7% of average, up from last week when the river ran at 50.2 cfs and from 36.4% of average.
Data dashboard: Local rivers are running below average
Aspen Journalism is compiling a data dashboard highlighting metrics of local public interest, updated weekly. At Stillwater, located upstream of Aspen, the Roaring Fork River ran at 50.2 cfs on May 12, or 36.4% of average, down from last week when the river ran at 73.8 cfs and from 71.7% of average.
CPW proposes increase to Fryingpan River fish harvest
Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials are proposing a change in regulations for one of the area’s most popular trout fishing streams. CPW is proposing to increase the number of brown trout allowed to be harvested in a day from two to four in an effort to control an over-abundance of the fish, which is out-competing the more sought-after rainbow trout.
Data dashboard: Streamflows are running below average
Aspen Journalism is compiling a data dashboard highlighting metrics of local public interest, updated weekly. At Stillwater, located upstream of Aspen, the Roaring Fork River ran at 73.8 cfs on May 5, or 71.7% of average, up from last week when the river ran at 62 cfs but down from 88.6% of average.
Data dashboard: Snowpack keeps dropping, streamflows up
Aspen Journalism is compiling a data dashboard highlighting metrics of local public interest, updated weekly. Snowpack at McClure Pass gets below 4 inches of snow-water equivalent. Snowpack in the Roaring Fork basin is dropping as temperatures are going up. Snowpack went from 14.8 inches of snow-water equivalent per site on...
Paperwork filed for gold-mine exploration near North Star Nature Preserve as county eyes land exchange
Editor’s note: This is the first story in a two-part series from Aspen Journalism about the management of the North Star Nature Preserve east of Aspen. This story examines a potential land exchange that could be complicated by a mining claim, while the second story looks at past management, recent studies and what’s next for North Star.
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Aspen Journalism is a local, nonprofit and investigative journalism organization in Aspen, Colorado. Our mission is to produce excellent journalism, as well-informed citizens make better decisions and journalism is key to a functioning democracy.
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