Colorado Water Trust and Roaring Fork Conservancy have teamed up with the Colorado River Water Conservation District (Colorado River District) and the Colorado Water Conservation Board to purchase and release water from Ruedi Reservoir to mitigate the impacts of anchor ice on the Fryingpan River. On Friday, December 16, the first release of water from Ruedi Reservoir will begin. The project aims to release 1.26 billion gallons of water (or 3,866 acre-feet) between December 16, 2022, and March 1, 2023, to the Fryingpan River, maintaining flows around 65 cubic-feet-per-second (cfs) in order to diminish ice buildup.

March 30, 2023 - 

Summary: 

Friday marks the end of a snowy month for the Roaring Fork Watershed with snowpack 145% of normal for this time of year. According to the NRCS, the amount of SWE received in the Roaring Fork Watershed just this month totals 6.6 inches. With the exception of March 2019, this will be the highest March SWE accumulation in the watershed since 1995! Additionally, snowpack in the Upper Colorado River Basin (everything upstream of Lake Powell) is currently 153% of normal. Streams across the Roaring Fork Watershed are flowing below average for this time of year but will rebound as temperatures rise and snow begins to melt. Before runoff officially begins, help us spring clean our watershed by volunteering for the 25th Annual Fryingpan & Beyond River Cleanup. Sign up at www.roaringfork.org/events.

Check out this month's most current news from RFC!

In the American West, the overwhelming majority of water consumption occurs through outdoor irrigation and evaporation. This water often does not return to the system directly, if at all. More than 60% of municipal water use is outdoor watering; most of it going to green grass lawns. To demonstrate conservation-based solutions for a lawn, Roaring Fork Conservancy partnered with Basalt Public Library to plant drought resistant turf called tall fescue...