Colorado Sunday | Are dams yesterday’s news?
I'm no meteorologist, but I'm guessing this day will be another beautiful fall day, with blue skies and just the right temperature to encourage an amble outdoors to appreciate this perfect season.
A similar day last month sent me into the mountains northwest of Fort Collins. I was too early for a meaningful leaf peep, but I did appreciate the drive up U.S. 287, past the route to Milton Seaman Reservoir, through an area that likely will be invisible because of a planned dam, and then farther north to a bumpy dirt road through a state wildlife area where Halligan Reservoir is, by all accounts, kind of hard to reach.
The existing pools of water I am aware of mostly because of their use as sources sipped up by firefighting helicopters and dropped on threatening wildfires not far away. In this week's cover story by Michael Booth, I learned that they have different, more consistent roles in the neighborhood. Along with Glade Reservoir, planned by Northern Water, they are crucial elements of plans by Front Range communities to hedge against drought and guarantee there is enough drink to satisfy the taps of the future. But it turns out storing water in big ponds on the surface isn't the most innovative future-proof storage strategy.
The Cover StoryThe state of storageSomewhere in daydreaming about dams across the West getting pulled down and letting all the eager wannabe salmon parents jump upstream unimpeded, I fell under the mistaken impression that the era of dam-building in Colorado must be over. Right?
Not so much. Maybe the era of ginormous dam building is in fact over. The EPA did alter the tone of the Colorado water wars in 1990 when it killed Denver's massive Two Forks project once and for all.
But if you pay attention at all to water or environmental news in the state, you keep hearing distant rumors or actual rumblings of heavy machinery piling up rock, cement and asphalt west of Loveland. Or test bores shaking the peat bogs along Homestake Creek in Eagle County. Or Colorado Springs measuring the curtains for a big reservoir renovation near the Decalibron Loop of 14ers near Alma.
So we thought it was time for a survey of the most high-profile water storage projects the Front Range is planning from the mountains to the plains. With all these bulldozers rented and on the clock, have water planners really changed their thinking about how — or even whether — to build big pools under the hot Western sun? Have conservationists learned to live with compromise?
And what about those other tantalizing rumors from the northern borderlands — magically self-contained water vaults trickling 1,000 feet under the hooves of bison wandering between Colorado and Wyoming?
We're not promising we covered every last one of them — even a lazy Sunday isn't long enough for that. But we hope we hit the big ones. Clip and save for later. As a knowledge reservoir, if you will.
READ THIS WEEK'
The Colorado LensWhere did you go, who did you see, what did you learn? Our photojournalists covered a lot of territory last week. Here are a few of our favorite shots.
Flavor of the WeekWhat you won't see when your ballots drop this weekThe general election ballot is coming soon to a mailbox near you and between now and Nov. 5 you've got time to think about state ballot measures presenting lots of choices: Shoot cougars, lynx and bobcats, or let them eat our pets? Redefine marriage, or let it remain the usual mess? And, most importantly, what credentials do veterinary assistants need, aside from a willingness to shovel endless piles of dog poop?
With all that — and more — on the ballot, The Colorado Sun is here to help .
I'm on the case, too. If we're going to vote on 14 ballot initiatives — plus local, state and, oh yeah, national candidates for office — there should be room for a few more popular initiatives (i.e. ones I care about), too.
Put mountain town mansions to use! If a 12-bedroom ski chalet goes unused for more than two weeks per year, it should be automatically registered on Airbnb for $1 a night, with no cleaning fees.
SEE MORE OF PETER'
SunLit: Sneak PeekIn "Silenced," a woman follows a delicious lead in hope of breaking a curseEXCERPT: In a new take on age-old fairy tales, "Silenced" focuses on traditionally diminished female characters seeking justice for preyed-upon women by undoing the curses that have been placed upon them to keep them silent. Author Ann Claycomb, whose book was a finalist for the Colorado Book Award in Science Fiction/Fantasy, introduces us to one key character in this excerpt at a bakery, searching for help breaking her curse.
Claycomb, who did her master's thesis on "Beauty and the Beast," pushes back on fairy tales' outdated gender norms, but she aims to do so with an approach that can also be instructive for readers. Here's a portion of her Q&A:
SunLit: What were the biggest challenges you faced in writing this book?
Claycomb: "Silenced" was hard to write at times, because the subject matter could so easily have turned dark. The three things I was determined to do were first, not allow this to become the male perpetrator's story, the way (for example) "Silence of the Lambs" is Hannibal Lecter's story as much as it is Clarice's; second, to make sure it was clear that the women wanted justice rather than revenge; and third, to infuse their story with the genuine warmth, hope and humor that real-world survivors draw upon.
Sunday Reading ListA curated list of what you may have missed from The Colorado Sun this week.
Biggest news first: Former Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters was sentenced to 9 years behind bars on Thursday and taken directly to jail — despite pleas for leniency including from a California preacher who asked that she be sent with him to serve probation helping others. The judge wasn't having it, calling Peters, the architect of an election equipment breach in her own county, a charlatan and accusing her of peddling snake oil. Nancy Lofholm was in the Grand Junction courtroom for the penultimate action (there will be an appeal) in the case .
In case you missed the rest of the Water Myths series that launched in this newsletter last Sunday, we've packaged them up in one easy-to-read group, including a story by Shannon Mullane, who explains why we can't just de-salt the ocean to solve our water scarcity problem .
The gray wolf introduction hits keep coming: Ranchers around North Park, frustrated by the number of calves and lambs they've lost to wolves, asked the state to stop reintroducing animals from other places, just as Colorado Parks and Wildlife announced it accidentally left a Copper Creek pack puppy behind when its parents and three littermates were captured and moved to a sanctuary, Jennifer Brown reports.
Put this on the list of things we sort of can't believe doesn't exist already: A database to track runaways from foster care .
Peter Moore, the cartoonist, wasn't joking when he said we're tracking all 14 of the ballot measures you'll be asked to vote on by Election Day. A formal voter guide launches Oct. 11, but there's a lot to read so you can start now: Election 2024
The idea of farming under solar panels isn't exactly new, but Michael Booth reports on an attempt to prove that agrivoltaic farming can work for row crops at Denver Botanic Gardens' Chatfield Farms, where the panels are posted high enough to let a tractor run through .
The fight over Lower Arkansas River Valley farm water now controlled by Aurora Water isn't over. Jerd Smith reports on how a decades old agreement is likely to be reopened for negotiation .
Here's a lovely thought for the day: Six Points Evaluation and Training Center in Gunnison is having an art show and sale , the proceeds of which help keep the adults with intellectual disabilities and traumatic brain injuries living in their home community. Parker Yamasaki checked out the program and the art.
Thanks for dropping by again this gorgeous Colorado Sunday. We'll see you back here next week. As always, the more people invited to brunch, the better. If you have someone you'd like to bring along, just share this link with them: coloradosun.com/join
— Dana & the whole staff of The Sun
Corrections & ClarificationsNotice something wrong? The Colorado Sun has an ethical responsibility to fix all factual errors . Request a correction by emailing .
