Summer 2012: Coming Together in Southwestern Colorado
Colorado’s Southwest
June 30, 2012 by Jerd Smith
Home not only to the arroyos and mesas of the Four Corners region, but to the high, craggy peaks of the San Juan Mountains and its wild rivers, Colorado’s southwestern corner is diverse and spread out. Yet, the region’s water communities are going the distance to work together.
Ute Water
On two reservations on the New Mexico border, water is a prerequisite to prosperity. Why it took so long to get water to the reservations, and how the region finally settled its differences to the satisfaction of all.
Cultivating Optimism
Southwestern Colorado has long valued its agricultural tradition, but as an older generation moves on, who will take up the plow? What must be done to help make farming a sustainable venture?
Probing Pagaosa’s Springs
Worth more than just a relaxing soak, Pagosa’s hot springs may just power greenhouses in the future
Dialogue on the Dolores
Why a conversation about managing flows was necessary, and how it’s yielding results.
For the Tommyknocker at Heart
Telluride may be more glamourous today, but it has its roots as a mining town. Pack your weekend bag—there’s plenty of history and natural beauty here to explore for days.
Aging Flume Hangs On
The crazy lengths gold-rush era miners went to in building Colorado’s Hanging Flume
Echoes of the Ancient Ones
How today’s water picture mirrors that faced by the Ancestral Puebloan people nearly a millenium ago.
Coming Together Around the Importance of Rivers
Why do we love our rivers? Workgroups explore the collective values held by five river basin communities, in hopes of developing appropriate protection mechanisms.