The Roundup | What happens when there’s less room for error?

Across the Western Slope, communities are being asked to make decisions with less room for error. There is less water in the Colorado River system. Housing remains scarce, and policies intended to address short-term rentals are under the microscope as their effects become clearer. In Glenwood Springs and Carbondale, residents and local officials are turning to the courts to address disputes over how properties are being used and maintained.

The answers are not always straightforward. A water release that helps communities downstream can make conditions on a popular river more difficult for anglers. A conservation program has to reduce water use without putting more pressure on farmers who are already leaving fields unplanted. Regulations can address one problem while creating another.

That is where local decision-making matters. So does paying attention to what happens after a policy is adopted, a permit is revoked or a program is put in place.

Our reporters are following those decisions and the people affected by them. The stories in this edition offer a look at some of the pressures facing the region, but also at the ways communities are trying to respond.

And because water is at the center of so many of those decisions right now, we’ve also included our real-time streamflow tracker. It provides a way to see the conditions in the rivers and streams we’re writing about as they change.

There is no single story that captures where the Western Slope is headed. But taken together, these stories show communities working through some consequential decisions about water, housing, land use and the responsibilities of local government. As always, thanks for reading and supporting Aspen Journalism.

– Curtis Wackerle
Editor and Executive Director
Aspen Journalism

P.S. Join us at 5:30PM on Friday, September 11 at the Hotel Jerome for a conversation with Al Letson, the Peabody Award-winning host of Reveal, the nationally acclaimed investigative radio show and podcast. Aspen Journalism and Reveal have something in common: both of our models were well-ahead of their time and met with skepticism, yet are proving to be a new way forward for investigative journalism. For more information and to sign up, click here. 

Glenwood Springs City Council voted 6-1 to pursue legal action against the landlord of an ICE holding facility, alleging the property is being used for detentions without a city permit. The city’s planning commission revoked the facility’s special use permit in April. City Attorney Karl Hanlon said a state-court lawsuit offers the best chance of success, though he estimated the odds of obtaining an injunction at less than 25% and warned litigation could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Continue reading…

Two former residents of The Homestead apartment complex in Carbondale have filed a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging their corporate landlord failed to address a yearslong cockroach infestation, sewage leaks, hidden fees and eviction threats. The Denver-based company that owns the property has called the claims “groundless.” If the class is certified, the lawsuit could include current and former tenants who lived at The Homestead from June 2023 until notice is issued, highlighting concerns at one of Carbondale’s few remaining lower-cost apartment complexes. Continue reading…

Water managers will increase releases from Ruedi Reservoir starting Monday, August 3. Flows in the Fryingpan River are expected to typically be between 300 and 500 cfs while the releases are happening, though they could climb higher.

Above 300 cfs, wading becomes difficult and potentially dangerous for anglers.⁠

While officials aim to avoid flooding and have been directed to aim for flows below 350cfs, higher flows are expected to affect anglers and recreation on the Fryingpan as reservoir operations respond to one of the driest years on record.

The release is part of the the River District’s 2026 drought response plan to help offset severe drought impacts downstream, sending additional water through the Fryingpan River to support Grand Valley water users and other needs in the Colorado River basin. Continue reading…

As drought and low snowpack leave some Uncompahgre Valley fields already unplanted, water managers are confronting how to reduce agricultural water use without further harming struggling farms. A new mapping tool is intended to identify where temporary, voluntary conservation could have the least economic impact, helping prepare growers for Colorado’s emerging water conservation program while supporting long-term resilience across the Colorado River Basin.⁠ Continue reading…

Four years after Aspen and Pitkin County adopted stricter short-term rental regulations to address housing, environmental and socioeconomic impacts, officials say the policies are largely meeting their intended goals. Now, both jurisdictions are reviewing whether permit caps, taxes and eligibility rules should be updated to address long waitlists, longtime property owners and other unintended consequences. Continue reading…

Colorado officials have announced a new state-run conservation program that will use $100 million in federal funding to pay water users to voluntarily reduce water use in 2027 and 2028, part of a broader effort to address the Colorado River’s ongoing drought and declining reservoir levels. The program aims to broaden participation beyond agriculture while avoiding harm to rural communities, encouraging environmental benefits and local control.

Although questions remain about conservation targets and how saved water will be used, the initiative represents a significant step toward reducing demand as Colorado and other basin states confront mounting water shortages and an uncertain river-management future. Continue reading…

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