Ski resorts are working overtime to beef up the
sparse early season snowfall in the Central Rockies, and the
Colorado Water Conservation Board thinks snowmakers at the Keystone
Ski Area might be working a little too hard.
In
early December, the Summit County resort pulled more than its share
of water out of the nearby Snake River, violating the state’s right
to keep water in the river for the benefit of wildlife. A local
water commissioner alerted the state water board to the problem,
and Keystone agreed to back off on its snowmaking until river
levels increased.
“Keystone has been very willing
to work with us,” says water board staffer Jeff Baessler. He says a
faulty alarm system at the ski resort led to the
over-diversion.
The conflict was resolved easily
in this case, says Baessler, but the state water board holds about
1,300 instream flow rights throughout Colorado. Since the rights
cover nearly 8,000 miles of stream, he says, it’s all but
impossible for the board’s six-person staff to keep a close eye on
each one.
“We’re starting to look at where the
critical areas are and what we can to do protect those critical
areas,” he says.
Melinda Kassen, the director of
Trout Unlimited’s Western Water Project, says the Keystone incident
illustrates a larger problem with the state’s instream flow
program. “This is a demonstration that the system can work, but it
can only work if someone is looking,” she says. “This program is a
paper program unless you have enforcement.”
*Michelle Nijhuis
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Keystone snowmakers get thirsty.
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