Aspen Journalism (https://www.aspenjournalism.org/)
The reason Yule Creek may have been spared from the spill is because it has been diverted from its natural channel to allow for expansion of the quarry.
Open Space staff is now proposing firm deadlines; any business who misses the deadline wouldn’t be eligible for a permit.
To understand why some groups are opposed to even just a study whether storage is an option, it helps to review the contentious history of water development in the Crystal River Valley.
Aspen is now studying how much water from Castle and Maroon creeks it wants to store, and where it wants to store it.
The utilities, working together as Homestake Partners, are looking at building the reservoir in the Homestake Creek valley, south of Minturn, in an area that probably contains fens, which could hinder the project.
As awareness of the potential effects of climate change grows, so does anxiety and grief about the seriousness of the crisis.
The plan hinges on an agreement with CDOT. Pitkin County actually only owns about a tenth of an acre, and the rest of the property that people know as Penny Hot Springs sits in a CDOT right of way.
If the county’s aquatic ecologist determines, in future years, that the additional water usage is having a negative effect on stream health, the county could limit Skico’s water use to historical levels — about 200 acre-feet a year.
The money will go toward funding projects that align with the goals outlined in the water plan, as well as toward meeting interstate obligations such as the Colorado River Compact.
There are now moose in just about every drainage in the upper Roaring Fork River valley, but wildlife officials can’t pin down specific numbers.