The Roundup | Housing pressures, drought restrictions and Aspen traffic shifts

The Future of Local News

A community conversation about journalism, trust, and democracy.
Friday, May 29. 9:30AM – 2:30PM | Colorado Mountain College (ASPEN CAMPUS)

Cost: Free to register. Includes lunch & refreshments. 
Learn more and RSVP here.

The Roaring Fork Civics & Media Summit is a convening designed to explore the evolving role of local journalism in supporting an informed and engaged community.  Regional media leaders, educators, and students will come together to examine how local news can better serve the public good. Aspen Journalism will be represented on the event’s opening panel, “Reimagining sustainable community news” with Editor and Executive Curtis Wackerle joined by Aspen Community Foundation President and CEO Erica Snow, Aspen Daily News Associate Publisher Megan Tackett and CMC Vice President and former Aspen mayor Steve Skadron, who will moderate.

At a time of increasing political polarization, declining trust in institutions, and rapid changes in how people access information, be part of the conversation in person tomorrow, or watch the live stream here tom. arrow from 9:30AM – 2:30PM.

This breadth of coverage is possible because Aspen Journalism is an independent, nonprofit newsroom with growing support from our community. As always, thank you for valuing in-depth, local journalism that connects the dots across Aspen, the Roaring Fork Valley and beyond.

– Curtis Wackerle
Editor and Executive Director
Aspen Journalism

As outside investors continue purchasing mobile home parks across the Western Slope, a community-led effort to help residents buy Cavern Springs Mobile Home Park in Glenwood Springs is being viewed as a potential model for future resident-owned cooperatives, which supporters say can stabilize rents and protect residents from displacement. But organizers say major challenges remain, including rising property values, limited financing options and the difficulty of assembling large amounts of capital quickly enough to compete with private investors. The effort comes as housing shortages and escalating costs continue affecting workers and families throughout the region. Continue reading…

Coming off one of the hottest, driest winters on record and exceptionally low snowpack, Aspen has enacted Stage 3 water restrictions aimed at cutting overall water use by 15% to 25%. The measures limit outdoor irrigation to two days a week, prohibit filling pools and fountains, ban daytime outdoor watering and increase rates for the city’s biggest water users. Officials said outdoor irrigation accounts for up to 70% of Aspen’s treated water demand and poses the greatest strain on limited supplies from Castle Creek. Communities across the Roaring Fork Valley are also tightening restrictions, increasing fines and launching a regional conservation campaign focused on reducing outdoor water use and protecting streamflows during worsening drought conditions. Continue reading…

A proposal to create a flexible pool of conserved Colorado River water could help protect Lake Powell during dry years by allowing water managers to shift stored water between reservoirs through operational and accounting changes. Supporters say the idea could reduce the need for emergency releases from upstream reservoirs and add flexibility as climate change and declining runoff strain the river system. But the concept also faces significant limitations and unanswered questions. Water managers and stakeholders raised concerns about how such a system would be administered, whether states would agree on accounting rules and ownership of conserved water, and whether the approach alone would be enough to address the river’s long-term supply imbalance. Continue reading…

Expanded traffic monitoring in Aspen is revealing how much congestion has moved beyond Highway 82 and into surrounding neighborhoods and commuter routes, while officials pursue new safety and traffic-flow projects across the valley. Data from new AI-powered counters shows that alternate routes such as Power Plant Road and McLain Flats account for a significant portion of vehicles, particularly during peak-use times, when Highway 82 bottlenecks are at their worst.

The new data informs transportation planning that must grapple with the reality of congestion spreading beyond the immediate highway corridor. Pitkin County in 2027 will redesign the Highway 82 and Smith Hill Way intersection with Colorado’s first “Michigan left” configuration, a $2.6 million project expected to reduce crashes by 35%. Aspen officials are also studying new signage, school-zone controls and restrictions in the West End to manage growing commuter traffic through residential streets. Meanwhile, transportation leaders say underused transit infrastructure such as the Brush Creek Park & Ride — which serves only about 3.5% of corridor traffic daily despite free fares — remains central to future efforts to reduce regional congestion. Continue reading…

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