This winter’s dismal snowpack and dire projections about spring runoff underscore the urgency for the states to come up with an agreement for a new management paradigm.
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.
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Low reservoir levels main cause of toxic algae in Blue Mesa
The study also says maintaining a water-level elevation above 7,470 feet might help minimize the occurrence of these blooms.
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The Runoff | The biggest water stories of 2025
Welcome to The Runoff, where Aspen Journalism’s Water Desk provides insider news and water-related updates you won’t read anywhere else under The Briefing and additional context and updates on the most recent reporting from our water desk under The Recap. In 2025, the Water Desk brought readers authoritative reporting on water quality issues in the […]
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States repeat talking points with little progress on deal as Colorado River crisis deepens
A question looming over this week’s conference was: Will the federal government step in?
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December water forecast a sobering backdrop to Colorado River conference
The high-stakes fourth tool — which water managers across the basin are counting on to rescue reservoirs, set a new management paradigm and provide long-term stability to the system — is new guidelines for how the reservoirs will be operated and shortages shared after 2026.
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Conservation studies’ findings have lessons for water managers
But as climate change continues to fuel shortages, makes a mockery of century-old agreements and pushes Colorado River management into crisis mode, the Upper Basin can no longer avoid scrutiny about how it uses water.
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State ramps up water measurement on Western Slope
The push for more-accurate measurement comes at a time when there is increasing competition for dwindling water supplies, as well as growing pressure on the Colorado River’s Upper Basin states (Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming) to conserve water.
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State water board votes yes on Shoshone
The CWCB’s decision was a blow to Front Range water providers, who objected to the River District’s having a say over how to manage the water rights, even though they supported the overall goal of protecting flows for the environment.
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No deal on Colorado River
Over the past few months, the positions of two of the states — Colorado and Arizona — have emerged as one of the main sources of disagreement.
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Protecting the peak on the Crystal
A “peaking” instream-flow water right would keep in the stream all of the water not claimed by someone else during years with high spring runoff, thereby maintaining these periodic floods, which are essential for growing new cottonwoods.