Aspen Journalism (https://www.aspenjournalism.org/category/water/page/2/)
Reporting on water and rivers in the Roaring Fork and Colorado River basins in collaboration with Swift Communications newspapers and The Water Desk at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Colorado State University researchers led by Dr. Perry Cabot, a water-resources specialist, will use remote sensing to determine how much water plants consume on the ranchers’ pastures and how much they save by not irrigating on select fields.
The reason for the discrepancy is dry soils, which soak up spring snowmelt before it gets to streams.
The Yampa can drop in late summer and drought years but water now consumed by power plants in Craig and Hayden could boost flows.
In the past, if the hydropower plant was not operating, the water right tied to it is not being put to beneficial use and cannot be used.
The violation occurred when the mining company moved a tributary of the Crystal River to make room for a new road.
Officials say water should be the least of anyone’s concerns during the growing outbreak, which has prompted an unprecedented statewide stay-at-home order and has seen most nonessential businesses and schools shut down.
According to a real-time text poll, 57% of the workshop participants said the demand-management feasibility investigation was moving too slowly.
House Bill 1159, which passed the House with a unanimous 63-0 vote and the Senate with a 31-1 vote, authorizes state water officials to confirm historical usages, such as water used for livestock, whether or not it’s held in an official water right.
Committee partners have worked to protect Dillon Reservoir even as Summit County’s population and wastewater loads have continued to grow significantly.
The spot, just upstream of the small boat ramp on Willits Lane near the FedEx outlet, has long presented a tricky obstacle to boaters, especially at low water.