Author: By JERD SMITH Fresh Water News
-
Once-pristine Grand Lake asks state to intervene in water clarity stalemate
—
by
Fourteen years after Colorado adopted standards to restore Grand Lake, the state’s largest natural water body once known for its astonishing clarity and high water quality, continues to deteriorate. Frustrated and worried about the future, Grand Lake locals are asking the state to intervene to break through a logjam of federal and environmental red tape…
-
Last summer’s massive wildfires bring heavy metals to this year’s spring runoff
—
by
Liz Roberts is digging into snow-soaked dirt just above the banks of Grizzly Creek in western Colorado. With bare fingers she sifts through the dark soil, looking for life amid the ruins of last summer’s devastating Grizzly Creek fire. When she finds tiny dormant roots, she smiles and exposes more soil to show visitors that…
-
Despite blizzard, Colorado mountain snowpack remains below normal
—
by
Despite the recent history-making blizzard on Colorado’s Front Range, statewide snowpack sits at 92 percent of average as of March 19, down from 105 percent of average at the end of February, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Just two river basins, the Arkansas and the Rio Grande, are registering above average at 101…
-
Nestlé seeks more time in Chaffee County as locals ask to be “unbottled”
—
by
Bottled water company Nestlé is seeking permission to extend its operations in Chaffee County, a move that is generating significant community opposition. Nestlé Waters North America first won permission to export spring water from Chaffee County in 2009, building a pipeline and trucking the water to Denver where it is packaged. The company hopes to…
-
Colorado mulls joining massive water conservation project
—
by
A statewide public effort to determine whether Coloradans should engage in perhaps the biggest water conservation program in state history — a Lake Powell drought contingency pool — enters its second year of study this summer. The 500,000 acre-foot pool, approved by Congress last year as part of the historic Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan, would…
