Meet Jill Suarez. As the Town of Carbondale’s main meter technician, Suarez has been tasked with assuring local compliance with new federal requirements to assure the replacement of lead pipes bringing water into homes nationwide.The rule change came with a major infrastructure bill passed in 2021 and was catalyzed by mass poisoning in Flint, Michigan […]
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Crystal River diesel spill causes concern
Update: Read the Town of Carbondale’s official press release, sent at 5:15pm on Aug. 8, here. Around 8pm on Monday, Aug. 7, members of the public noticed a strong odor emanating from near the southern River Valley Ranch bridge over the Crystal River. Less than two weeks before, work had begun in the river as part […]
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For the love of fens…
Photos by Chris Cohen Rocky Mountain Science Center Sliding her shovel deep into the spongy earth, ecologist Delia Malone explained that a fen is a special kind of wetland, formed over thousands of years. Prone to freezing and lacking aeration, the decomposition of organic matter in a fen is limited, generating around four centimeters of […]
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CO appoints first-ever, full-time river commissioner
On June 22, the Colorado Department of Natural Resources was proud to announce that Rebecca (Becky) Mitchell was appointed as Colorado’s first full-time commissioner to the Upper Colorado River Commission (UCRC). Having served as director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) for six years, and simultaneously as a UCRC commissioner for the past four, […]
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Apple Tree water quality meeting set for May 18
Apple Tree Trailer Park, outside of New Castle, is home to several families which make up its small community. With a little push from a regional community organizing nonprofit, residents have begun to organize and advocate for their shared needs. VOCES Unidas de las Montañas “is an advocacy organization that works to elevate the voices […]
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State of the River meeting featured Colorado’s lead water negotiator
On Tuesday, May 2, the Colorado River District and the Middle Colorado Watershed Council hosted an event in Glenwood Springs to update the community on the condition of the Colorado River and its local tributaries. This was part of a series held annually around the Western Slope by the River District. The event featured a […]
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Crystal River community summit sees massive turnout
Lots of people made the haul over to Marble to attend the first in-person public input session of the most recent stakeholder process concerning the fate of the Crystal River. Cars were parked bumper to bumper along West Park Street leading to the fire station, where the community summit took place. The facilitators, Wendy Lowe […]
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Students get an aerial perspective on western water
High above the ground, three six-seater Cessna 210 airplanes are flying in formation. Below them stretches the arid landscape that dominates much of the Colorado River watershed. Inside the planes are college students from around Colorado hoping to get a new perspective on the drought crisis in the Colorado River basin. The eight college students […]