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una nueva publicación semanal con noticias Volume 13, Number 45 | Dec. 16-22 2021 locales en español.
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The Colorado Media Project recently hosted a fellowship to strengthen water reporting across Colorado. They chose a cohort of 10 journalists from around the state to build skills covering this complex and important topic — including The Sopris Sun's own Olivia Emmer, who says, "You can barely scratch the surface of understanding the West's water in six months, but this fellowship was a great kick start on the subject." Photo by Will Grandbois By Olivia Emmer Sopris Sun Correspondent
Editor’s note: Water supply, climate change and the Colorado River seem to be in the news constantly. The West’s major reservoirs have reached record lows and scientists have released discouraging forecasts for future supplies. This article seeks to provide local context for these headlines by reviewing the state of the Crystal River watershed, the rules that govern the use of its water and some perspectives from people who rely on it. This article was reported as part of the Colorado Media Project 2021 Water Journalism Fellowship.
Relying on a wild river
Reflections from the Crystal watershed In the spring of 2018, Matt Shmigelsky’s showerhead ran dry mid-suds. After some sleuthing, he and neighbors in his subdivision of 10 houses realized the problem wasn’t an aging pipe or malfunctioning pump. Their well, permitted 50 years ago and reliable until that point, had gone dry. For about 10 days, he and fellow residents of Carbondale’s Crystal
View Heights Filing 1 subdivision went without water in their taps while they hurried to drill a new, deeper well. “It was really eye opening, just how much we rely on it. It's so funny — even days after [it ran dry], you’d still go to the faucet and turn it on out of habit. It's just ingrained in your mind that you have water,” Shmigelsky says.
Just a few months later, he and his neighbors received notice from the Colorado Division of Water Resources (DWR) that their 1971 right to use Crystal River water was “out of priority.” In Colorado, water rights are tied to a date, with older, or “senior,” rights getting first dibs. Water rights holders on the downstream Ella Ditch weren't getting enough water out of the
Crystal River to fulfill their 1902 water right. Those holders asked the state to enforce their senior right. This typically means shutting off junior water use upstream. This “call” on the Crystal River revealed that some taps in the towns of Carbondale and Marble and at least five subdivisions didn’t have plans in place to back up their junior water use in a shortage. DWR did not prohibit the nearly 200 impacted homes from using water, but informed them that their access to water during future shortages depends on creating an “augmentation plan.”
The newspaper in your hands costs $2.00 to create. Advertising does NOT cover the full cost. The Sopris Sun is a nonprofit enterprise that helps budding journalists gain experience, provides employment and freelance opportunities to local writers, photographers and artists. We also produce a weekly publication in Spanish. Please help us to continue to provide quality independent media by donating today. Mail checks to P.O. Box 399, Carbondale, CO 81623, scan the QR code or donate at SorprisSun.com/donate.
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