At the River District’s quarterly meeting, held Wednesday, Ris talked with board members about two water conservation programs, both of which have long been contentious and critical issues for the district.
Category: Water
Our water desk, staffed by Heather Sackett, produces the most authoritative reporting available on Roaring Fork and upper Colorado river basin water policy and politics.
Posted inWater
Improving resilience to drought
If the soil treatment techniques work and are able to be scaled up, they could be part of the solution for drought-stressed crops and ranchers throughout the state.
Posted inWater
East Mesa Ditch seeking funding for repairs
Finding creative arrangements with irrigators to boost streamflows on the Crystal during dry periods has long been a desire of some Healthy Rivers board members.
Posted inWater
Water managers vote to continue conservation program, with tweaks, in 2024
The Upper Colorado River Commission decided unanimously to continue the federally funded System Conservation Program in 2024 — but with a narrower scope that explores demand management concepts and supports innovation and local drought resiliency on a longer-term basis.
Posted inWater
Confusion persists about Wolf Creek reservoir in Rio Blanco County
According to the report, two of the most repeated questions from those interviewed was: What is the specific need for water and how much water is needed?
Posted inWater
Crews working to repair Busk-Ivanhoe transmountain diversion
These TMDs were constructed to solve a simple yet crucial problem: Most of Colorado’s water is on the Western Slope, but most of the state’s population lives on the eastern side of the divide.
Posted inWater
Colorado River commission reviews lessons learned from water conservation program
About 2,388 acres of agricultural land will go unirrigated in Colorado this season and the total amount of water conserved across those 22 projects is about 2,517 acre-feet.
Posted inWater
Gunnison ranch to loan water for the environment
With the lease agreement enacted, Curry and Peterson would turn off their four ditch headgates at the end of June and keep them off for 37 days — usually the hottest, driest time of year and when Tomichi Creek could most use a boost.
Posted inWater
Pitkin County aims to bring back beavers
Pitkin County is hoping that other landowners see things the way Craig does as it makes beavers a top priority, funding measures that may eventually restore North America’s largest rodent to areas it once lived in the Roaring Fork watershed.
Posted inWater
Studies say Janeway site promising for Crystal River backup water supply
Although Janeway is the most promising area for a nature-based solution and the one overlapping potential project site of the two studies, it still has drawbacks.