But according to the paper, in 2021, “rates of snowmelt throughout April were alarming and quickly worsened summer runoff outlooks which underscores that 1 April may no longer be a reliable benchmark for western water supply.”
Author Archives: Heather Sackett
Heather Sackett is the managing editor at Aspen Journalism and the editor and reporter on the Water Desk. She has also reported for The Denver Post and the Telluride Daily Planet. Heather has a master’s degree from CU’s Center for Environmental Journalism and her reporting has been recognized by the Colorado Press Association.
Posted inThe Runoff
The Runoff | From panic to acceptance
Some water managers at CRWUA acknowledged a truth that is widely known but rarely stated so candidly: As the Colorado River crisis deepens, water to cities will not be cut off in favor of continuing to grow hay in the desert, no matter what the law of the river says.
Posted inWater
Upper basin moves closer to water conservation program
LAS VEGAS — Upper Colorado River basin officials seemed to inch closer to implementing a demand management program, the heart of which involves paying agricultural water users to use less, at the Colorado River Water Users Association conference this week. At the annual gathering of water managers and experts in Las Vegas — which sold […]
Posted inWater
Upper Colorado River officials release details of water savings program
The renewed SCPP is different from an upper basin demand management program, something the UCRC is studying and to which the state of Colorado devoted more than two years and nine workgroups as part of its feasibility investigation.
Posted inWater
White River call ‘significant’ for water users
District General Manager Alden Vanden Brink said in an email that the district’s full water right was not being met several months out of the year and that the call will remain on until the full water right or capacity of the turbine is met.
Posted inWater
Studies tackle water-replacement options for shortages on Crystal River
A parallel study, undertaken by the River District and environmental-and-recreation advocacy group American Rivers, is looking at nature-based solutions. The idea is that by keeping water on the landscape higher in the basin, it could recharge aquifers and boost river flows in late summer.
Posted inWater
RWAPA unveils valley-wide outdoor watering standards
In an effort to unify the Roaring Fork watershed, a local agency has developed valley-wide outdoor watering standards that its board members hope will be adopted by municipal water providers.
Posted inWater
Four things to know about the lower Colorado River basin
The tour took participants by bus from Las Vegas though the green alfalfa fields of the Fort Mohave Indian Reservation, past the big diversions serving the Central Arizona Project and Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, and to the hot, below-sea-level agricultural expanse of the biggest water user on the river: the Imperial Irrigation District.
Posted inWater
Aspen’s water use stays steady
Getting some customers to change their behavior, especially when it comes to outdoor watering, is challenging.
Posted inWater
Recreation groups ask for more inclusion in state Water Plan
In the Colorado water world, recreation usually is lumped together with the environment as a “non-consumptive” use since both seek to keep water in the stream. But signatories to the letter say that grouping overlooks the importance of recreation to the economy.