The Western Water Channel

04/03/2024

A billion-dollar program is unblocking millions of killer culverts across the nation to help fish get to spawning grounds.

04/03/2024

Balancing Western water demand and supply will alter the region’s landscape.

03/07/2023

The Channel completed its annual snow survey this past weekend.
Mill creek had snow depths ranging from 88-155cm and Taylor Reservoir had snow depths ranging from 83-141cm.

03/01/2023

All undergraduate and graduate students, checkout this awesome opportunity from EcoFlight!

EcoFlight, a non-profit that uses small airplanes to educate and advocate for wildlands and waterways, is offering a free multi-day collegiate
program called Flight Across America (FLAA) on April 3-6, 2023.

Any undergraduate or graduate students who are passionate about the environment, energy, sustainability, conservation, journalism, story-telling, or environmental science should apply for this opportunity! The focus of the flight this year is Water in the West and eight passionate students will get to experience a 3-day tour in EcoFlight’s six-seater planes, gaining a bird’s-eye view of the drought-stricken West with a special focus on the Colorado River Basin and Desert Southwest.

There is no charge for this program; meals, lodging, and program expenses will be covered by EcoFlight. Participants will need to arrange their travel to and from Aspen, CO, where the FLAA trip begins and ends.

02/12/2023

The Colorado State Senate is drafting a draft bill to address the tension between stream restoration projects and water rights holders.

The bill specifies that restoration projects do not need to go through the Water Court process to secure a water right. In other words, restoration is different than projects that require water rights, such as work on a diversion, storage, or a dam. This approach would encourage restoration projects by making them easier and less costly.

Likely parameters for such restoration projects will include that the work is within the historical footprint of the floodplain and no new wetlands are created.

Beaver analogue photo by Jackie Corday of Aspen Journalism

https://aspenjournalism.org/state-officials-draft-bill-on-stream-restoration/

02/05/2023

The Channel’s annual snow survey is one month away! Join us the first weekend of March to take snow depth samples at Mill Creek (March 4th) and Taylor Reservoir (March 5th). To RSVP please direct message on Facebook or email us at [email protected]. See you there!
Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District, Clark Family School of Environment & Sustainability, WCU Wildlife Society Chapter, Master of Environmental Management Graduate Program

02/02/2023

Most states in the Colorado River Basin now agree on a starting point to save the drying river, but it’s not enough, experts say, and the plan is missing the biggest player in the West.

02/01/2023

Read a Q&A with Yup’ik fisher and activist Alannah Hurley on the fight for Bristol Bay’s future.

02/01/2023

Six western states have agreed to a reduction of water use from the Colorado River. California is the lone holdout. Read more here from "The Colorado Sun": https://coloradosun.com/2023/01/30/colorado-river-water-plan-california-holdout/?utm_source=The%20Colorado%20Sun%20Newsletters&utm_campaign=SUNRISER_20230131&utm_medium=email

02/01/2023

ICYMI: Colorado signed onto a 6 state consensus alternative to Bureau of Reclamation to better manage the reservoirs at Lakes Powell & Mead which are in crisis. As our own Colorado Commissioner to the Upper Colorado River Commission Rebecca Mitchell stated, "We can only save the Colorado River system if we act together." There is a lot more work to do but this is a start to address the long term challenges on the Colorado River. Read more here: https://cwcb.colorado.gov/focus-areas/interstate/colorado-river-commissioners-corner

01/25/2023

Another deadline to establish new cutbacks in water use in the seven-state Colorado River Basin may pass Jan. 31, as states continue their talks, as ordered by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. In addition to the cutbacks, several other key decisions also lie ahead in the coming weeks, including ho

01/19/2023