Gunnison Country Times, December 21, 2023

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NEWS: Paintbrush residents adjust to rent hikes, A10

VOL. 142. NO. 51 | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2023 | $1.00

Contractors allege Gunnison Rising owes $4.5 million FedEx finally hooked up to power Abby Harrison Times Staff Writer Bella Biondini Times Editor

Despite an ongoing lawsuit and empty pockets, Gunnison Rising’s project managers are confident that, although the project is behind schedule, it will make a Rising A6

INSIDE

TODAY

NEWS: Housing Authority searching for new leadership, A12

COMMUNITY: Rady students make waves in adaptive sports industry, B1

SPREAD JOY: Lake School students Charlie Shondeck and Ali Cobos make Play-Doh gingerbread men with residents of the Gunnison Valley Health Senior Care Center on Dec. 13. For more, see A8. (Photo by Mariel Wiley)

Snow season off Wolves released to a slow start on Western Slope Drier-thannormal conditions likely to persist Bella Biondini Times Editor

SPORTS: Titans hockey battles with top teams, B6

OBITUARIES A3, A17 OPINION A4 CLASSIFIEDS A18-A26 SPORTS B6 ONLINE GUNNISONTIMES.COM

For the Gunnison Valley, as well as much of southwest Colorado, snow accumulation is off to a sluggish start this winter. There’s not a whole lot going on right now other than dry conditions, Beverly Richards told the Gunnison County Commissioners during a drought up date on Dec. 12. Richards is a water resource specialist for the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, 82% of the county is experiencing abnormally dry to moderate drought conditions. With sparse storms over the past month, the drought monitor labeled this November as the 30th driest in its 129-year record. With little moisture in the near-term forecast, the valley is expected to stay relatively dry through the end of the year. While the mountains above the Gunnison Basin are holding

snow, the San Juans and Sangre de Cristos ranges are lagging behind with snowpack levels as low as 50% of average. Last winter, snow blanketed much of the West, including Colorado, with snowpack percentages well above normal. Runoff ranked in the top-five dating back to 1991, senior hydrologist Cody Moser said during a water supply update hosted by the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center last week. The snowmelt replenished soil moisture and filled reservoirs, many with storage levels that were suffering from back-toback drought years. But the region quickly transitioned from “very good” conditions, into a “very dry” period, Moser said. Summertime brought a poor monsoon season, with several bouts of record heat across the state. Any progress made restoring the soil’s moisture content reversed throughout the fall, especially in southwestern Colorado. Models for the entire Colorado River Basin show near- to below-normal soil moisture levels — with conditions that are similar to the fall of 2022, despite a heavy runoff season. These levels share a direct correlation with timing Drought A9

Female wolf (2302-OR) is released onto public land in Grand County. (Courtesy Jerry Neal and Rachael Gonzales/CPW)

Travis Duncan Colorado Parks and Wildlife

On Monday, Dec. 18, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) released five gray wolves onto public land in Grand County in an historic effort to create a permanent, selfsustaining wolf population in Colorado. “Today, history was made in Colorado,” said Gov. Jared Polis. “For the first time since the 1940s, the howl of wolves

will officially return to western Colorado.” The gray wolves were captured in Oregon where CPW veterinarians and biologists evaluated them to determine if they were fit for relocation to Colorado. Criteria for release included the age, sex, health and body condition of each animal. Each gray wolf was weighed and measured. Staff collected genetic material — tissue and Wolves A7


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