Carbondale Public Works held a meeting on March 26 with Crystal River water managers (ranchers and farmers) to begin discussions on the Crystal’s water usage this coming summer. The initiative comes in the wake of record-low snowpack this past winter and anticipated very low flows in the Crystal and Roaring Fork rivers.
The gathering, organized and led by Scott Wenning, Public Work’s assistant director for utilities, was held at the Carbondale fire station. In a discussion with The Sopris Sun, Wenning, wanting to maintain the managers’ privacy, declined to give specifics about who attended or the exact number of participants, other than to say, “There was a good turnout.”
Wenning described the town’s municipal water system as background for the meeting. “We have three water-treatment plants” that are all connected and collectively supply “all the [potable] water demand through the whole town.” This is in addition to the four ditches providing untreated water for irrigation.
Carbondale’s primary potable water source is Nettle Creek, “on the shoulder of Mt. Sopris,” which gravity-feeds water to the treatment plant at its base that then flows downhill into town. There is also a well along the Crystal River near the Nordic Gardens nursery, and three wells by the Roaring Fork near the Nature (dog) Park; each location has a treatment plant.
Wenning noted, “This system does not have any reservoir storage at all,” and relies solely on the four wells and the creek’s spring runoff. Hence added concern about water availability — especially in the Crystal — this summer.
Wenning explained the meeting’s goal “was just to provide all the water users, water managers on the Crystal River a little forecast of what may be coming, in terms of level of drought.” He gave a short presentation to “show what this runoff forecast could be.”
“We are expecting, potentially, significantly less water runoff than [in] 2018,” he said, “the most recent real dry year that everybody remembers.”
The other purpose was “to initiate a collaborative dialogue with our neighbors” and for Wenning himself to get to know these folks better. In describing their response, he said, “I wasn’t telling them anything significantly new, [it was] more of a way to kick off discussion. People are interested, they’re paying attention.”
One meeting participant who did talk with The Sun was Bill Fales, who, with his wife Marj Perry, has long operated the large Cold Mountain Ranch just south of Carbondale. Fales reiterated the general, preliminary aspect of the meeting, where everyone agreed, “It’s going to be a tough year,” and that they plan to meet again soon.
He and Perry discussed the more sophisticated snowpack-measuring technology now available, including the automated SNOTEL system and the more recent use of airborne lidar mapping that allow for much more accurate predictions.
Perry noted, “They’re going to provide information for each watershed or each reservoir,” for a “much fuller understanding” of water availability.
Given that greater picture, Fales observed, “We’re looking at [a] thousand-year drought.” He continued, “Last year, out in the forest, we had springs that were dry that had never been dry … and they certainly didn’t get recharged this winter.”
Fales recounted that following the dry 2018 season, he and Perry agreed to participate in a program with the Colorado Water Trust in which the trust pays water managers not to use all of their water allotment. However, because of certain stringent parameters for when the program can be implemented, they have so far been able to do it only one or two years. Perry noted that they were the only ones to participate despite the trust’s hopes that all would do so, but “that just hasn’t happened.”
The ranch has also installed a center-pivot watering system in one of its fields, replacing the traditional flood-irrigation method. The pivot system diverts less water from the river but uses more than flooding (since some of that water percolates back into the ground). However, the pivot system drastically reduces the amount of time it takes to irrigate a field, meaning that the crop can be harvested faster and is of higher quality. The ranch also utilizes CoAgMET, a sophisticated on-site weather station, the real-time data from which allows Fales to water with optimum efficiency.
Back in Carbondale, Wenning said, “We have built a 25-year capital-expenditure framework to essentially build more resiliency [and] drought-management type of infrastructure into our system.” He cited as an example current construction at the Roaring Fork treatment plant to increase its capacity.
In addition, the Town will leverage its senior water rights “to make sure that we can deliver water to our residents, kind of no matter what.” By late 2026 or early 2027, “We will have a comprehensive master plan that will provide a resilient and redundant potable water system for the whole community … that will include water-
conservation efforts,” such as incentives for using lower-flow fixtures or replacing sod with xeriscaping.
One notable fact that Wenning shared was that despite development and growth in Carbondale since 1995, “We have seen no increased use of water in town.” Factors contributing to this include aggressive repair of water leaks, improved water-measuring technology, the use of ditchwater irrigation for public spaces and denser new housing with less yard space and more efficient fixtures.