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The Water Desk
Grizzly Reservoir to be drained next summer for rehab work
Grizzly Reservoir, the high-mountain lake above Aspen formed by damming Lincoln and Grizzly creeks, will be drained next summer for repairs to the dam, tunnel and outlet works. After spring runoff next year, Twin Lakes Reservoir and Canal Company will draw down the reservoir so workers can install a membrane...
West Slope water managers ask: What authority do the feds have?
As the deadline approaches for the seven Colorado River basin states to come up with a plan to conserve water, some Colorado water managers are asking what authority the federal government has in the upper basin and which water projects could be at risk of federal action. U.S. Bureau of...
Tourist haven Grand Lake asks state to intervene in federal water quality stalemate
Fourteen years after Colorado adopted standards to restore Grand Lake, the state’s largest natural water body once known for its astonishing clarity and high water quality continues to deteriorate. Frustrated and worried about the future, Grand Lake locals are asking the state to intervene to break through a log...
State inspections lag for New Mexico’s primary drinking water source
Nearly 80% of New Mexicans depend on groundwater sources for their drinking water, according to the state. But the N.M. Environment Department isn’t keeping up with inspections and enforcement of health standards with those who hold permits to discharge into groundwater systems. People in New Mexico can discharge liquid...
Two new Colorado River reservoirs are rising on the Front Range, are they the last of their kind?
As two major new water storage projects designed to capture the flows of the drought-strapped Colorado River are rising on Colorado’s urban Front Range, observers say they represent the end of an era on the river. The projects, Northern Water’s Chimney Hollow Reservoir west of Berthoud, and Denver Water’s...
The westward spread of zebra and quagga mussels shows how tiny invaders can cause big problems
The zebra mussel has been a poster child for invasive species ever since it unleashed economic and ecological havoc on the Great Lakes in the late 1980s. Yet despite intensive efforts to control it and its relative, the quagga mussel, these fingernail-sized mollusks are spreading through U.S. rivers, lakes and bays, clogging water supply pipes and altering food webs.
After initial failure, new effort could bring green hydrogen pilot project to Yampa River Valley
After an attempt last year to secure funding for a green hydrogen pilot in the Yampa River Valley failed, state officials and Tri-State Generation and Transmission, among others, are taking another run at the idea, using a new program launched earlier this year by the U.S. Department of Energy. In...
Opinions differ on timeline as Crystal River Wild & Scenic efforts move ahead
A campaign to protect one of the last free-flowing rivers in Colorado is moving forward, but some proponents say not enough progress has been made over the past year. Last spring a handful of advocates led by Pitkin County revived an effort to secure a federal Wild & Scenic designation, which would protect the upper Crystal River from future development, dams and diversions. A year into the effort, some say a planned stakeholder process is moving too slowly, while others say a designation can’t be rushed and must be approached carefully and inclusively.
Flood maps show US vastly underestimates contamination risk at old industrial sites
By Thomas Marlow, New York University; James R. Elliott, Rice University, and Scott Frickel, Brown University. Climate science is clear: Floodwaters are a growing risk for many American cities, threatening to displace not only people and housing but also the land-based pollution left behind by earlier industrial activities. In 2019,...
Some still don’t have a reliable water source near the headwaters of the Colorado River
Water supply is regularly interrupted for residents in a Gunnison mobile home park. After years of bringing attention to the issue, they still haven’t seen solutions. Several members of the community have been working on a state-wide plan to bring more attention to water equity issues. A few weeks...
Emergency Colorado River rescue plan likely to include more Flaming Gorge releases, payments to cut water use
Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming may face requests for voluntary cutbacks in their use of Colorado River water next year, as the federal government eyes releasing more water from Flaming Gorge Reservoir and as Arizona, California and Nevada scramble to find ways to slash water use quickly. Experts say...
A centuries-old system determines who gets water first and last
Prior appropriation is the water law in the West that determines how water is divided among users. Most of the water in the Colorado River Basin is used for agriculture. Increasingly, Colorado is designating rights to streams themselves as rivers and drought continues to shrink water supplies. In the Upper...
Climate Change is making flooding worse: 3 reasons the world is seeing more record-breaking deluges
Heavy rain combined with melting snow can be a destructive combination. In mid-June 2022, storms dumped up to 5 inches of rain over three days in the mountains in and around Yellowstone National Park, rapidly melting snowpack. As the rain and meltwater poured into creeks and then rivers, it became a flood that damaged roads, cabins and utilities and forced more than 10,000 people to evacuate.
Colorado Reservoirs at 85% of average capacity, with little recovery expected summer rains may offer temporary relief
As back-to-back drought years continue to reduce snowpack and spring runoff, Colorado’s reservoirs are seeing little to any recovery in storage levels, members of the state’s Water Availability Task Force said Tuesday. “It’s going to be a challenge for this year and the forseeable future until we get...
State officials looking for engagement on updated water plan
State officials are hoping dire climate predictions and water shortages will convince Coloradans to get involved in planning how to share a dwindling resource. Colorado Water Conservation Board staff released the second iteration of the Colorado Water Plan on Thursday, which is now open for public comment. The first version of the plan was implemented in 2015.
Recent drop in Lake Powell’s storage shows how much space sediment is taking up
The Bureau of Reclamation last week revised its data on the amount of water stored in Lake Powell, with a new, lower tally taking into account a 4% drop in the reservoir’s total available capacity between 1986 and 2018 due to sedimentation. Bureau data on the reservoir’s water-storage volume...
What are PFAS, and why is the EPA warning about them in drinking water? An environmental health scientist explains
You may be hearing that term in the news as the federal government considers new rules and guidelines for the chemicals. Even if the acronym is new to you, you’re probably already familiar with what PFAS do. That’s because they’re found in everything from nonstick cookware to carpets to ski wax.
Blue Mesa is threatened by a two-decade-long drought and downstream obligations
The reservoir provides recreation like boating and fishing, powers thousands of homes through hydroelectricity and stores water for Lake Powell and other downstream users. The reservoir is critically low, and it’s possible water levels may be lowered even further in 2022. Blue Mesa Reservoir once resembled a deep and...
Crystal River rancher, Water Trust again try to boost flows
A Crystal River Valley rancher and a nonprofit organization are teaming up for the second time to try to leave more water in a parched stream. Cold Mountain Ranch owners Bill Fales and Marj Perry have inked a six-year deal with the Colorado Water Trust to voluntarily retime their irrigation practices to leave water in the Crystal River during the late summer and early fall, when the river often needs it the most. In addition to a $5,000 signing bonus, the ranchers will be paid $250 a day up to 20 days, for each cubic foot per second they don’t divert, for a maximum payment of $30,000.
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