Day: April 8, 2024

#Snowpack news April 8, 2024

Colorado snowpack basin-filled map April 8, 2024.
Westwide SNOTEL basin-filled map April 8, 2024.

Tales on the Smith Fork: A story about process-based riparian #restoration as taught by beaver — #Colorado Farm & Food Alliance @COFarmFood

Beaver dam analog on the Smith Fork of the Gunnison River. Screenshot from Tales on the Smith Fork — Colorado Farm & Food

Tales on th Smith Fork tells the story of a project to rehabilitate a riparian area along a stream at a ranch in western Colorado using low-tech process-based restoration and the installation of beaver dam analogs. Produced by the Colorado Farm & Food Alliance and filmmaker David Jacobson, this film was made possible with a grant from the LOR Foundation: “We work with people in rural places to improve quality of life.” Thank you Rancho Largo, David and the LOR Foundation for making this work possible.

Map of the Gunnison River drainage basin in Colorado, USA. Made using public domain USGS data. By Shannon1 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69257550

2024 #COleg: Instead of flushing away precious water, new bill seeks to allow more Coloradans to use graywater systems — The Sky-Hi News

Graywater system schematic.

Click the link to read the article on the Sky-Hi News website (Elliot Wenzler). Here’s an excerpt:

April 8, 2024

Conservationists point to graywater uses as a way to cut down on water consumption in the West

A bill that would allow graywater systems to be included in new homes throughout Colorado received rare unanimous approval from the Colorado House on Friday…The bipartisan House Bill 2024-1362 (Measures to Incentivize Graywater Use) is sponsored by Rep. Meghan Lukens, D-Steamboat Springs, and Rep. Marc Catlin, R-Montrose, Sen. Dylan Roberts, D-Frisco, and Sen. Cleave Simpson, R-Alamosa…Currently, local governments are permitted to opt into graywater programs. Under the bill, the whole state would be automatically allowed to include graywater systems in new constructions, but local governments could choose to opt their community out…

Since the state gave initial approval for local governments to opt into graywater programs in 2013, only six jurisdictions have chosen to do so including Pitkin County, Grand Junction, Denver, Castle Rock, Fort Collins, Broomfield and Golden. If approved by the Senate and signed by the governor, the bill would go into effect at the start of 2026. 

Graywater is mentioned in the Colorado Water Plan as a possible tool for the state to meet current and future water needs. It notes there are challenges with the technology, including the effort of retrofitting existing buildings with the systems. It also includes a “general lack of interest on the part of local governments to enact local graywater ordinances,” a “lack of interest from developers” and “concerns that property owners could be resistant to operating and maintaining a graywater system within their residences” as challenges.