A sort-of normal spring runoff in an abnormal year
Colorado's Yampa River peaked in mid-May and the same looked to have happened in Idaho's Wood River. But generally, peak runoff is happening now, in early June. Continue reading → The post A sort-of...
View ArticlePatrick Brower on why “Killdozer” operator was no hero
In his new book, "Killdozer," Patrick Brower recounts the 2004 bulldozer rampage that left 13 buildings in a Colorado mountain town badly damaged or razed, including that of the newspaper office where...
View ArticleHow a town’s terrorist became an American anti-hero
Marvin Heemeyer's bulldozer had barely cooled after his 2004 pillaging of a Colorado mountain town before some people had proclaimed him a hero for exacting revenge on those who had done him wrong....
View ArticleMaking snow in Aspen when there’s less cold weather
Aspen had a hard time making snow last fall. Temperatures were just too warm. Temperatures are clearly rising in the American Southwest, and an EPA study projects temperature rises for hundreds of ski...
View ArticleYet another drought for the hard-working Colorado River
Runoff this year in the Colorado River peaked early and with marginal volumes after yet another lackluster winter of snow in many of its headwaters. A lot of years in the 21st century have been like...
View ArticleHeeding science in managing the Colorado River
Colorado has had giant pivots in its water affairs since Eric Kuhn arrived in 1983 to work at the Colorado River Water Conservation District. Now officially retired, Kuhn is engaged in perhaps the most...
View ArticleA first-ever call on this Colorado river as water scarcity tightens
In late August, shortly before reservoir levels in the Colorado River Basin fell to their lowest levels in 50 years, a call was placed on the Yampa River. Continue reading → The post A first-ever call...
View ArticleFacts be damned, they intended to divvy up the river as they saw fit
In "Science Be Dammed," Eric Kuhn and John Fleck explain how the foundations for water allocations of the last century were premised on flawed assumptions, and that these assumptions were made...
View ArticleProwling the bowels of Hoover Dam
Hoover Dam's hydroelectric generation was very important when the dam was completed in 1936, helping Los Angeles became a great city. Can Hoover Dam and Lake Mead become a giant battery tries to become...
View ArticleRuminating on water and energy
Colorado and the West have plenty of reasons to talk about both energy and water, but usually those conversations occur in separate rooms. An attempt to bring them together by historian Patty Limerick...
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