Other findings of the report are consistent with what River District and agriculture representatives have been saying since the state began its demand-management discussions in 2019: A program must not lead to the permanent dry-up of Western Slope agriculture, and additional diversions to the Front Range are in direct conflict with asking Western Slope water users to save water.
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 inWater
Steamboat looks to new program to address high river temperatures
Because the river is classified as impaired, city officials expect that when CDPHE issues a new discharge permit for the city’s wastewater-treatment plant, it will include more-stringent water temperature standards.
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Homestake hike highlights uncertainties with proposed reservoir project
Some who attended the hike — which attracted about 20 people — questioned the concept of taking more water from the headwaters of the Colorado River over to thirsty and growing Front Range cities in the face of a climate change-fueled crisis.
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Blue Mesa Reservoir releases to prop up Lake Powell impacting recreation
The three reservoirs are part of the Colorado River Storage Project, and their primary purpose is to control the flows of the Colorado River; flatwater recreation has always been incidental. But the releases at Blue Mesa illustrate the risks of building an outdoor-recreation economy around a highly engineered river system that is now beginning to falter amid a climate change-fueled drought.
Posted inThe Roundup newsletter
The Roundup | Proposed storage project is a complicated solution to shortages
Water Desk Editor Heather Sackett on the ins and outs of the proposed Ram’s Horn Reservoir and Cow Creek storage project working its way through water court.
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Ouray County water project faces opposition from state, others
The goal of the project is to prevent the UVWUA — one of the big senior water rights holders in the Gunnison River basin — from placing a call on the river.
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Colorado work group fails to reach consensus in anti-speculation report
The lack of consensus or recommendations underscores how difficult it is to answer the thorny question at the heart of the issue: How can the government balance protecting a public resource from profit-seeking investors without infringing on private-property rights?
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How low can Ruedi Reservoir go?
That means if there is below-average runoff again, some contract holders who own water in Ruedi could have to take shortages, something that has never happened before, Miller said.
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Demand management discussions continue amid worsening Colorado River crisis
Some have expressed frustration with what they say is the state’s slow pace of a program rollout and want to begin pilot projects to test the program’s feasibility.
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State engineers developing measurement rules for water diversions
Division 6, in sparsely populated northwest Colorado, has traditionally enjoyed abundant water and few demands, but as climate change tightens its grip on the West, there is less water to go around.