Western Colorado Drought

KDNK’s news team brings you local and regional news from the Roaring Fork Valley ... and beyond.

KDNK’s news team brings you local and regional news from the Roaring Fork Valley ... and beyond.

After a long summer of drought and enormous wildfires, Western Slope water is top of mind for many. In January, the Biden administration pledged $40 million to the Western Slope’s purchase of the Shoshone Water Rights in Glenwood Canyon; it was withdrawn that same month by the Trump administration. Congressman Jeff Hurd was questioned during a recent telephone town hall about the long contested-Shoshone water rights.

Thousands of people in the U.S. Department of Agriculture were fired in February as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to downsize the federal workforce. Although wildland firefighters were exempt from the mass firing, many fired federal employees had secondary wildfire-fighting responsibilities.  This came during a busy wildfire season in Western Colorado, which included the fourth-largest wildfire in state history. Now the White River National Forest is hoping to fill fourteen new positions.

KDNK’s news team brings you local and regional news from the Roaring Fork Valley ... and beyond.

Plenty of rain fell in the region last week, breaking records almost a century old. But, reports KDNK's Morgan Neely, drought persists.