• The Fork at Stillwater ran at 72% of average on July 23 and 98% of average below Maroon Creek.
• Lake Powell’s elevation dropped from 3,584 feet on July 16 to 3,582.5 feet on July 23.
• Air temperatures reached about ten degrees above normal on July 17 in Aspen.

Author Archives: Laurine Lassalle
Laurine Lassalle is Aspen Journalism’s data desk editor, where she works to catalogue and analyze local public data. She also heads our our “Tracking the Curve” project, documenting COVID-19 in Pitkin, Eagle and Garfield counties. She has a master’s degree in data and investigative journalism from UC Berkeley with an emphasis on environmental reporting.
Data dashboard: Summer occupancy for Aspen and Snowmass remains behind from the past couple of years
• Summer occupancy is down from last year with 33.6% of rooms booked for May through October as of June 30 for Aspen and Snowmass combined, down from 2022’s 37.8%.
• The Fork ran at 604 cfs on July 16, down from 757 cfs last week.
• Lake Powell’s elevation has lost 8.4 inches since last week.
Data dashboard: Most local streams are running above average
• The Fork ran at 40% of average at Stillwater and 111% of average below Maroon Creek on July 9.
• Lake Powell’s elevation has gained 7.1 inches since last week.
• Air quality was “good” last week in Aspen — except on July 8.
Data dashboard: Transbasin diversion resumes and slows down local streamflows
• Twin Lakes Tunnel, which sends Roaring Fork flows east of the Continental Divide, was running as high as 365 cfs on June 29 before dropping to 253 cfs on July 2.
• The Fork at Stillwater ran at 194 cfs on July 2, down from 559 cfs last week.
• High air temperatures reached as high as 81°F on June 26 in Aspen.
Data dashboard: Increasing temps, diversion pause lead to peak streamflow
• The Fork ran at 842 cfs or 200% of average on June 23 at Stillwater before dropping to 559 cfs or 138% of average on June 25.
• Lake Powell’s elevation went from 3,576.2 feet on June 16 to 3,581.4 feet on June 25.
• High air temperatures reached 80°F on June 22, or about four degrees above normal.
Data dashboard: Roaring Fork River flowing at almost 850 cfs above Aspen
• Overall summer occupancy is down from last year with 28.8% of rooms booked for May through October as of May 31 for Aspen and Snowmass combined, down from 2022’s 33.4%.
• Lake Powell’s surface elevation up to 3576 feet.
• Aspen’s air quality index reached 50 on June 12 and June 18.
Data dashboard: Most local streams are running well above average
• Snowpack at Snowfield Pass held 14.4 inches of water on June 11.
• Air temperatures at ASE are close to normal.
• Lake Powell’s storage reached 37% full on June 11, up from 33% two weeks ago.
Soil-moisture data points to moderate levels
Looking across the Roaring Fork Basin, soil moisture on Nov. 2, 2022, measured 70% of average for the higher elevations sites and 100% of average at lower elevations. That is wetter than in November 2020, when soil moisture was mostly between 50% and 70% of average.
Data dashboard: Streams flowing well above average
• The USGS sensor below Maroon Creek recorded the Fork running at 1,160 cfs on May 29, or 186.2% of average. That’s up from 816 cfs on May 21.
• The monitoring station at Independence Pass has been recording a snow-water equivalent of zero inches since May 28.
• Lake Powell’s elevation on May 29 was 33 feet above the target elevation of 3,525.
The outsized impact of REMP residences
Mitigation strategies that offset all exterior energy use have not always been possible or sufficient. Local governments are considering additional measures to help meet climate goals, including potentially reducing the maximum allowed house size in the county.