Click the link to read the article on the Glenwood Springs Post-Independent website (Ali Longwell). Here’s an excerpt:
September 22, 2026
Colorado River District’s annual water seminar included stories of how collaboration and creativity pulled users through this year’s drought crisis, while questions remain about whether that’s enough to secure water in a hotter, drier future
On Colorado’s Western Slope, water managers, ranchers, producers and community leaders knew early in the year that this summer was going to be unlike any others they’ve experienced.
“Things were not looking great — and then March happened,” said Rebecca Briesmoore, senior water resources engineer for the Colorado River Water Conservation District, at its annual water seminar on Friday, Sept. 18, in Grand Junction. “Every single county in the state of Colorado broke the record for the hottest March on record by a large margin. What does that do to our snowpack? It started melting very, very quickly. We saw that [snow water equivalent] just plummet down the graph.”
[…]
“Drought is really a different kind of emergency,” [Jen] MacPherson said, adding that there aren’t a lot of tools set up for towns to address running out of water.
In Kremmling, partnership and collaboration ultimately helped the new town manager find solutions. The town’s water rights in one of its reservoirs were shared with the Colorado River Cattle Ranch.
“That ranch decided to cut irrigation to a hay meadow; they sacrificed hundreds of thousands of dollars to help us [provide] drinking water,” MacPherson said. “And we’ve seen stories like that up and down the entire river.”
Plus, the town and residents stepped up with conservation efforts, reducing its use by 45%, she added.