This week from Aspen Journalism, two stories that strike a chord, for different reasons.
Elizabeth Stewart-Severy brings us a piece that resonates with the salience of recreation access as a binding community issue, especially when such access has a particular impact on youth. Another issue that affects almost everyone, central to the story, is the power of the HOA. Our reporting on the impasse that developed between advocates for the Aspen/Snowmass Nordic trail network and the Meadowood neighborhood over continued public ski access through Meadowood property is a must read for anyone with an interest in the local Nordic skiing network, one of the largest free systems in the county. The segment in question is part of the trail cluster that winds out from the Aspen schools campus, where community members of all ages go up against some of the hilliest terrain groomed for skinny skis. While the impasse was at least temporarily closed with a $12,000 contribution of Pitkin County funds, it is important to note that the county has agreed to contribute funds for one year of restoration treatments as requested by the Meadowood neighborhood. Future year payments are subject to future negotiations with unknown outcomes.
Also this week, Heather Sackett reports on the latest turn in the long saga of Aspen as a power company, which it has been for a long time, going back to the 1880s when municipal interests first used local hydropower to generate electricity. A new era in that story began in the 1980s, when the city of Aspen installed a hydro turbine at the Ruedi Reservoir dam. Changing release patterns from that dam down the Fryingpan River, tied to increased demand for water to bolster a reach of the Colorado River near Grand Junction critical to endangered fish, have created the conditions for a new $8.6 million proposal from Aspen. That plan, getting its first local press coverage thanks to our water desk, would see a second turbine installed at the dam, which city officials say would allow them to more efficiently capture energy from flows that are trending higher in the late summer and lower in winter on account of Ruedi’s position as one of the most important water sources for the Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program. And in case you were wondering, the city is not planning to repurpose for this project the turbine, still sitting in storage on city property, that was purchased for the ill-fated Castle Creek Energy Center which was shut down by voters in 2012. A new turbine would be custom built for the needs at Ruedi.
Thank you, as always, for reading and supporting Aspen Journalism’s nonprofit newsroom.
– Curtis Wackerle
Editor and Executive Director
Aspen Journalism
Aspen proposes second turbine for Ruedi hydro plant
Increased fish flows make power production inefficient
By Heather Sackett
September 18, 2024
Releases out of Ruedi have changed since the hydro plant began operating, with the reservoir now one of the most important sources of water for the Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program.
Pitkin County will pay to preserve Nordic skiing through private meadow
Weed dispute threatened public cross-country ski access in Meadowood
By Elizabeth Stewart-Severy
September 15, 2024
The settlement averted the potential break up of a Nordic course adjacent to Aspen’s public schools that has long held a designation to host high-level races from the International Skiing Federation (FIS).
Grand Valley water managers have plan to outmuscle invasive species
Palisade Irrigation District plans to begin treating with copper this fall
By Heather Sackett
September 4, 2024
There are always stories that need a journalist to pursue them. These Aspen Journalism investigative stories are published for you, the community, and our collaborators as a public service, thanks to the generosity of our readers and funders. Will you join them?
