You never want to say that a particular article is the culmination of a years-long reporting effort. There is always more to the story, and in this case, local environmental groups are not pleased with the outcome, so eyes peeled for a follow up. But Water Desk Editor Heather Sackett’s scoop, published Saturday in collaboration with The Aspen Times, on the price the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has determined a local marble quarry must pay for diverting a section of Yule Creek, helps bring to a close a saga that Sackett and AJ first broke the news about in December of 2019, when word got out about a diesel spill at the quarry involving an overflowing fuel tank.
The spill increased scrutiny on the Pride of America Mine, operated by Colorado Stone Quarries (CSQ), located 3 miles up County Road 3C from the town of Marble, leading the Army Corps to determine moving the 1,700-foot reach of Yule Creek was done in violation of the Clean Water Act. From there, six more articles in the last two years have followed the process of determining whether or not the creek should be moved back, and what “compensatory mitigation” the Army Corps should require of the mine operator for their transgression. Local environmentalists led by the Crystal Valley Environmental Protection Association, as well as county governments, have called for more wide-reaching projects aimed at restoring river health. But in the end, the Army Corps held that mitigation should take place in close proximity to the location of impact. The creek shall remain in its new channel, which CSQ will be required to monitor and improve, and the company must build a new bridge and culvert where the county road intersects with Mud Gulch, a drainage where debris flows regularly run to a confluence with Yule Creek. Other conditions include creating buffer zones along the creek near the diverted section. Thanks to Sackett for diligently following this issue of great importance for the upper Crystal River watershed.
It’s been a busy week, as Tim Cooney and our History Desk also checked in, with a two-part series taking readers on a slow ride through Aspen’s history as seen from the driver’s seat. Cooney’s meticulous review of the historical record traces the development of a socioeconomic system based on transitioning wagon roads to highways, beginning with the arrival of Aspen’s first car in 1906 in part one. You won’t find a more engaging account of how Independence Pass and Highway 82 came to be, or how the inventions of the modern world forever changed a self-sufficient small town. Part two follows the evolution of local car culture and infrastructure post 1940s, educating most of us newbies on the downtown sports car races that were among the growing town’s most anticipated events in the 1950s and the legacy of the Woody Creek racetrack. Thanks to Aspen Daily News for giving us a two-part Saturday/Sunday feature over the weekend, in our ongoing collaboration, now seven years old, showcasing Cooney’s remarkable work.
Also this week, our Data Dashboard tracks a big spike in river flows and a rapid melt-off of the high-country snowpack, while Tracking the Curve notes that COVID-19 cases statewide, and locally, are on the rise.
Thank you for reading and supporting Aspen Journalism.
With gratitude,
– Curtis Wackerle
Editor and executive director
Marble quarry must build bridge, culvert and improve stream for Clean Water Act violation
Environmentalists say mitigation doesn’t go far enough
By Heather Sackett | May 14, 2022
The mining company said the Army Corps required them to choose compensatory mitigation that was “in-kind” to the impacts on Yule Creek and as close as possible to the affected area.
From wagon road to two-lane: Aspen’s history by car, part one
Motoring into Aspen in the early days was a tricky adventure
By Tim Cooney | May 16, 2022
Once celebrated in 1906 Aspen as the transition from horse and buggy to metropolitan, the circumnavigation of the first car through town brought looky-loos into the streets. Who then would have imagined that 116 years later Main Street would be gridlocked with “tin Lizzies.”
Drive here please, said Aspen in the Quiet Years: Aspen’s history by car, part two
From demo derbies and car races to today’s traffic daze
By Tim Cooney | May 16, 2022
In a time when second homes were few and short-term rental referred to skis, Aspen abided comfortably with cars. A legendary, mischief-making doctor brought a sports-car race to town in the early 1950s.
Data dashboard: Temperatures on the rise, local streamflow above average
The Roaring Fork River near Aspen ran at about 150% of average on May 15, while the Crystal was flowing at about 196% of average near Redstone.
By Laurine Lassalle | May 17, 2022
• Snowpack at Indy Pass is down to 4.1% of average.
• The Crystal River ran at 1,340 cfs near Redstone, or about 196% of average on May 15.
• Lake Powell’s elevation keeps gaining a few inches.
Tracking the Curve
Documenting COVID-19 in Pitkin, Eagle and Garfield counties
By Laurine Lassalle | May 17, 2022
COVID-19 in Colorado are on the rise. Over 8% of the tests performed across the state are positive. Pitkin County’s new-case incidence increased from 97 per 100,000 on May 12 to about 109 on May 16.
David Krause: This is my stop, Aspen, so I’m going to step off this wild ride
“Any ownership change in any business is tough, but I’ve been through a few in my nearly 40 years as a newspaper journalist, and I’m not up for another one at this point in my career. There have been some bumps along the way the past four months, enough so that I am ready to take a different path.”
Source: aspentimes.com | Read more
Colorado mountain towns feel more crowded than ever. But census data shows the population has barely changed.
“There’s the larger narrative in the high country right now that more people than ever before are buying homes and relocating to mountain communities. But the census data does not reflect a deluge of newcomers.”
Source: coloradosun.com | Read more
Last island of private land in Mt. Massive Wilderness purchased and transferred to Forest Service
“‘This is a problem that’s driven by a class system in Aspen on down,’ Martin “The move is significant because the 20-acre property is on the east side of Independence Pass and a popular trail cuts through it. The transfer to the Forest Service assures that the trail won’t have to be relocated.”
Source:aspentimes.com | Read more
Bennet bill would create endowment to aid Hayden, Craig as coal-fired plants shutter
“‘I believe we must think regionally about sustainable and long-term community development,’ said Routt County Commissioner Tim Redmond. ‘The endowment concept will allow for long-term planning and success.’”
Source: steamboatpilot.com | Read more
Hydropower is 53% of the renewable energy supply in the West. Drought is slowing down production.
“‘Tri-State is concerned about losing access to these emissions-free hydropower resources,’ Stutz said, ‘which could ultimately increase power costs for rural communities and affect how we advance our greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals, while also presenting broader reliability challenges across the Western electric grid.'”
Source: coloradosun.com | Read more
Mapping snowpack from the skies brings new precision to water forecasting
“‘What we’re doing is mapping the snowpack everywhere,’ Deems said. ‘It gives us an accurate snow volume and therefore decouples us from that reliance on the historic record.’ He says with aerial snow mapping they can get “very accurate” depths every three meters throughout the whole watershed, and since their clients have all been public entities the data is accessible to the public on the ASO’s website.”
Source: aspenpublicradio.org | Listen here
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