But the decree, while granting Rangely-based Rio Blanco the amount of storage it was seeking, doesn’t allow the district all the water uses that it initially wanted.
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.
U.S. Army Corps won’t hold public hearing on marble quarry that relocated Yule Creek
Colorado Stone Quarries officials must address public comments, propose plan to mitigate damage caused by creek relocation.
Judge dismisses several water uses in White River reservoir case
Division 6 Water Judge Michael A O’Hara III, in a Dec. 23 order, determined that Rio Blanco Water Conservancy District has not provided enough evidence that its current existing water rights won’t meet demands in the categories of municipal, irrigation, domestic, in-reservoir piscatorial, commercial and augmentation for Yellow Jacket Water Conservancy District.
Depositions delve into state engineers’ questions on proposed White River reservoir
The documents, obtained through a Colorado Open Records Act request, also underscore the extent to which fear of a compact call is shaping this proposed dam and reservoir project between Meeker and Rangely.
Local groups want mitigation, public hearing on marble quarry water issue
They also say the company, which was found to have violated the Clean Water Act for moving the section of Yule Creek without first applying for a permit, should undertake river restoration projects elsewhere in the Crystal River basin as compensatory mitigation for damage the company caused when it moved the waterway to construct a road to better access its marble quarry.
Colorado River District lays out framework for new taxpayer-funded grant program
According to the framework, project proponents should get buy-in from local governments in the form of a letter of support from the board of county commissioners in the county in which the project is located.
Program expanding to map Colorado mountain snowpack
A geographically expanded program with consistent funding would revolutionize water management in Colorado, according to the grant application.
Vail Resorts’ cancellation of cloud seeding this winter could mean less water in streams
“While this is bad news for skiers, it also means a challenge for western water managers who count on cloud seeding to increase water supplies by increasing snowfall in the mountainous headwaters of the Colorado River and its tributaries.”
State water board approves second phase of investigation into demand-management program
Step II does not include a large-scale pilot program, but it leaves the door open to develop one in the future, potentially in collaboration with other upper-basin states.
Glenwood Springs gets $8 million loan for water-system upgrades following Grizzly Creek Fire
The loan will allow Glenwood Springs, which takes most of its municipal water supply from No Name and Grizzly creeks, to reduce the elevated sediment load in the water supply taken from the creeks as a result of the fire.
