Upstream rivers running above normal Local streams are flowing at 77-242% of normal in the Roaring Fork watershed as of March 24, while the Colorado River is running at 73% of average at Dotsero and 64% near the Colorado-Utah stateline. At Stillwater, located upstream of Aspen, the Roaring Fork River ran at 39.5 cfs on […]
Tag: Data Desk
Stories carrying the Data Desk tag were either produced directly by the Aspen Journalism Data Desk, led by Laurine Lassalle, or benefitted from the assistance of our Data Desk. This often takes the form of data analysis to aid in reporting, creating data visualizations, maps or other graphics, or research into data sets and/or public records.
Posted inEnvironment
As e-bike use grows, so do accidents
More than 60% of the bike and e-bike accidents on Pitkin County OST’s properties involved an e-bike, as they become increasingly popular among locals and visitors.
Posted inWater
December water forecast a sobering backdrop to Colorado River conference
The high-stakes fourth tool — which water managers across the basin are counting on to rescue reservoirs, set a new management paradigm and provide long-term stability to the system — is new guidelines for how the reservoirs will be operated and shortages shared after 2026.
Posted inEnvironment
Transportation coalition seeks consensus on high-occupancy toll, congestion-pricing recommendations
The Transportation Coalition for the 21st Century has narrowed down its potential recommendations for relieving traffic congestion in the Roaring Fork Valley to two scenarios: congestion pricing or a hybrid plan that would start with a high-occupancy toll (HOT) lane and work toward congestion pricing. Both scenarios include carpooling and public-transit incentives.
Posted inEnvironment
Private ski area proposal near Steamboat divides community
As Routt County awaits the first public hearing on a proposal to develop a private ski resort and elite enclave 20 miles south of Steamboat Springs, there is widespread anxiety and divisions across the community are deepening. Reanna Sullivan, whose hillside home faces the prospective ski area, ticks off concerns associated with many new high-end […]
Posted inSocial justice
New data confirms rising immigration arrests, and a changing profile of who gets detained
As the Trump administration carries out its promise to ramp up Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, recently released data confirms that a growing number of people have been arrested in Pitkin, Eagle and Garfield counties.
Posted inLand Use
Boom in private clubs highlights tensions between belonging and exclusion
Club spaces can get “demonized,” because of their very nature: The same thing that gives one person a sense of belonging points out to another that they don’t belong.
Posted inEnvironment
RFTA to study how Rio Grande Trail’s railroad corridor can be used for mass transit
The Roaring Fork Transportation Authority will consider new ways to use its railroad corridor, which extends from Glenwood Springs to Woody Creek and includes the popular Rio Grande Trail, to alleviate traffic on Highway 82 and respond to the valley’s transportation needs.
Posted inWater
Delta County ranchers want state action on conservation
The conservation conversation comes at a pivotal time for water users on the Colorado River, which remains wracked by drought and climate change.
Posted inEnvironment
Carrots won’t cut upper-valley congestion without sticks
The preferred alternative is projected to have a negligible impact on congestion, and in some cases makes it worse. “If that’s all we do, we’re stuck with an hour and seven minutes from Brush Creek to the S-curve basically, and that is not a happy picture,” said John Bennett, a former Aspen mayor and a coalition co-founder.