The issue of who can use water on Canyon Creek gets at a central tension of Western water law: Is water a public resource or a private property right? The answer is both.
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
Pitkin County pledges $1 million to Shoshone water rights purchase
In exchange for support of the Shoshone project, Pitkin County will be able to use some water from Grizzly Reservoir, owned by the city of Aspen and the River District, to boost flows in the upper Roaring Fork River.
Posted inWater
Colorado River Basin states have just weeks left to agree on plan
The seven states that use water from the Colorado River – Arizona, California and Nevada comprise the Lower Basin – have just over a month left to agree on how the nation’s two largest reservoirs would be operated and cuts shared in the future before the federal government may decide for them.
Posted inWater
North/south split for Western Slope snowpack and streamflow forecasts
Some recent data has shown a north/south split in streamflow declines, with rivers in the southern half of the upper Colorado River basin losing a larger percentage of flows in the first two decades of the 21st century than rivers in the northern part of the basin.
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Dwindling water supply, legal questions push Colorado River into ‘wildly uncharted territory’
Although the phrase often looms like a threat over Colorado River discussions, there is no agreed-upon definition of the term, what would trigger a compact call nor how one would play out.
Posted inThe Runoff
The Runoff | Coming to terms with the river we have
Welcome back to The Runoff, where Aspen Journalism’s Water Desk provides insider news and water-related updates you won’t read anywhere else, with additional context and updates on our most recent reporting. Thanks for going deeper with us and for supporting our nonprofit, in-depth, investigative reporting. – Heather SackettWater Desk Editor and ReporterAspen Journalism Three new CWCB reps […]
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Federal funding pause includes 17 water projects on Western Slope
The uncertainty surrounding B2E funding comes at a crucial time for the Colorado River basin, which has been plagued by drought and dwindling streamflows due to climate change for more than the past two decades.
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Upper Basin water managers want monthly drought meetings with feds
This is a critical time for Colorado River management as the Upper Basin states are in talks with the Lower Basin states (California, Arizona, Nevada) about how the nation’s two largest reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead, will be operated and cuts will be shared after 2026 when the current guidelines expire.
Posted inWater
Colorado lawmakers take aim at turf — again
The bill represents a continuing effort across the Colorado River basin to wring savings from municipal water use in the face of a warming and drying climate.
Posted inWater
Future water conservation program almost guaranteed in Upper Basin
One is a Lake Powell Conservation Account that will store up to 200,000 acre-feet per year from conservation and from quantified but unused tribal water.