Amid a devastating drought, Colorado’s labyrinthine water management rules have yielded a silver lining for rafters, kayakers and visitors seeking the thrill of whitewater.
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Even in the driest of years — like this one — powerful Western Slope water rights on the mainstem of the Colorado River draw water downstream, making boating on the state’s major water artery possible.
“For mainstem floating, we should still have pretty darn good flows for the rest of the season for as long as people want to be boating,” said Sam Calahan, a water resources specialist for the Colorado River District. The taxpayer-funded agency is based in Glenwood Springs and works to protect Western Slope water.
The dismal winter snowpack that resulted in a disappointing ski season has now translated to statewide drought. An unusually warm spring prompted early runoff and early peak flows in most Colorado rivers. Those flows then fell precipitously to levels too low for most sane boaters.
On Wednesday, Browns Canyon — a popular section of the Arkansas River near Buena Vista — was flowing at the lowest level in 55 years of data and at 16% of its median flow for that date. Clear Creek near Idaho Springs was flowing at 61 cubic feet per second on Wednesday, also a record low for the date in 72 years of data. The median flow for the date is 347 cfs, or more than five times as much water.
Water levels in both stretches were below recommended levels to run, according to the American Whitewater Association.
But flows on much of the Colorado River were high enough for rafts and kayaks this week. Flows on a popular section near Kremmling were near normal, as were water levels farther downstream in Glenwood Canyon.
Two major factors keep water flowing down the Colorado River during drought: large senior water rights owned by farmers in Mesa County’s Grand Valley and the water rights connected to the Shoshone Power Plant, a hydroelectric facility in Glenwood Canyon owned by Xcel Energy.
Irrigators and power plant operators can call water to their facilities from upstream reservoirs, like Green Mountain Reservoir, which is on the Blue River — a tributary of the Colorado River — north of Silverthorne. This year, the irrigators began calling down water on July 1, boosting flows in the Colorado River.
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“It’s sort of an operational byproduct of how water is managed in Colorado,” said Matt Aboussie, spokesman for the Colorado River District, which is in the process of buying the power plant.
The water is a lifeline for rafting companies, said David Costlow, the executive director of the Colorado River Outfitters Association.
“It’s huge,” Costlow said of the Colorado River flows. “We’ve got customers that still want to go rafting, and it’s good to still have options.”
If they can, rafting outfitters will shift operations to the Colorado River, he said.
On a website description of a Clear Creek rafting trip, one major rafting company has included a section describing the current lack of certainty around flows this year and suggested a trip elsewhere.
“If you’re open to exploring another area, the Upper Colorado River near Kremmling is also a great option this summer, offering reliable flows, beautiful canyon scenery, and rafting trips for all experience levels less than an hour from Summit County,” AVA Rafting and Zipline’s website states.
Flows on the Colorado River will continue to fluctuate through the season, Calahan said. If monsoon rains begin falling, irrigators will require less water from upstream reservoirs. Flows could then drop, but they would be supplemented by precipitation.
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“We could end up with not a terribly early end to the season,” Calahan said.
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