Tag: Dolores River
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National conservation area proposed again for southwest Colorado
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Colorado lawmakers have reintroduced a bill that would form a national conservation area over highly contended land in southwest Colorado. U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper recently announced legislation closely resembling a proposal from 2022 to add protections around public land along the Dolores…
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Protection vs. overreach: In western Colorado, national monument proposal ignites controversy
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Sean Pond was around a small town of his native western Colorado when he spotted a man in a blue ball cap. Above the bill were the words at the center of an ongoing controversy: “PROTECT THE DOLORES.” Pond approached the man. “He said someone…
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Colorado River Basin sees ‘spectacular’ snowpack, buying time for big decisions
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save The Colorado River is one of the West’s most vital resources. But 20 years of drought have stressed the entire river basin, forcing federal officials to call for massive cuts in water use. This winter, in the water-towers of the west, storms have dropped more…
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Amid harsh drought, Colorado whitewater enthusiasts have high hopes for rafting season
From her home in Dolores, Rica Fulton has been looking around at a strange scene, as if from a dream. “There hasn’t been dry ground since December, which is sort of unheard of around here,” she said. “A lot of the old-timers are saying this hasn’t happened since the ‘90s.” New Colorado Springs mountain bike…
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‘I’ve got more than 70,000 river miles’: Longtime Colorado pro details best of rafting around the West
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Bill Dvorak, 72, might know more than anyone about rafting Colorado’s rivers. “I’ve got more than 70,000 river miles,” he reports from his outfitter between Buena Vista and Salida. “I think this is my 38th year on the Arkansas.” But his life on the water…
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Colorado’s age-old water doctrine pushed to the brink by drought
Editor’s Note: This story is a collaborative report by Fresh Water News working with nine other Colorado news outlets. In Evans, four miles south of Greeley, houses are shooting up. Once a quiet farm town, Evans is scrambling to come up with enough water to slake the thirst of hundreds of new homeowners, drawn here…
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Drought along a Colorado river calls for extreme efforts to enforce water laws: A badge and a gun
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save CORTEZ — There’s an adage among Western farmers, ranchers and outlaws that has been uttered through generations of disappointment and joy: “Whiskey’s for drinking and water’s for fighting over.” And water scarcity driven by drastic climate-change along the Dolores River in southwest Colorado has been…
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Colorado’s 2021 rafting season forecast: Short
Colorado’s rivers and streams are rising after a year of pandemic quarantine and social distancing, and the anticipation of rafters and kayakers is rising as well. But water resource experts and outfitters are cautioning that the second year in a row of below-average runoff and unseasonably warm spring temperatures will contribute to a short float…