Project Active

Roaring Fork River – Wheeler Ditch
Through 2022, the Wheeler Ditch Project has restored over
million gallons
acre-feet
How Did This Project Come to Us?:
The City of Aspen, concerned about the effect of local diversions and large transmountain diversions on native flow with the river reached out to Colorado Water Trust to find a solution to bolster streamflow. The partnership began with two single year agreements in 2013 and 2014 that provided short-term support to river health, and eventually led to a long term agreement that would bolster flows and protect the City’s water rights.
Tools Used:
Non-Diversion Agreement, Water Conservation Program (In 2013 and 2014, the Water Trust entered a non-diversion agreement with the City of Aspen for senior water rights to support flows in a critical reach of the Roaring Fork River. In 2016, a 5-in-10-year non-diversion agreement was formalized through SB-19 to bolster flows in the Roaring Fork during five of ten years)
Project Partners:
The City of Aspen, Pitkin County Healthy Rivers and Streams Board, Bonneville Environmental Foundation, Laffey-McHugh Foundation
Project Years:
2013-2014, 2016-present
Project Story:
For decades, large water diversions have reduced the amount of water flowing in the upper Roaring Fork River; only a fraction of the native flow reaches the City of Aspen. At times, more than ninety percent of the native flow of the Roaring Fork is diverted from the river for transmountain delivery to the Front Range and many local water diversions serving various beneficial uses.
To begin exploring streamflow solutions for the Roaring Fork, the City of Aspen lead local efforts by using one of its senior water rights to benefit flows through a critical reach of the Roaring Fork River. On June 10, 2013, the Aspen City Council authorized a non-diversion agreement with the Colorado Water Trust to bypass some water that Aspen would otherwise divert from this reach of the Roaring Fork.

The Roaring Fork River is a popular spot for outdoor recreation.
The same thing happened in 2014. This increased flows by 2-3 cfs or 10% of average flows during those dry years. This agreement, while an essential short-term fix, would not protect Aspen’s water rights in the long-run.
In May of 2016, Aspen’s City Council approved a ten-year non-diversion agreement between the Water Trust and Aspen, and the Colorado River District approved the SB-19 Water Conservation Program, which will protect their water rights from certain elements of Colorado Water Law. Together, these approvals give the Water Trust and its partners the ability to bolster flows in the Roaring Fork during five of ten years using the Wheeler Ditch water rights.
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Photo Credits: Edalin Koziol
What’s Underway at the Water Trust
Happy Summer Friends!
Life is surely full of challenges right now. I don’t think any of us could have expected we would spend our 2020 summer dealing with wildfires, drought,...
Aspen to develop river management plan for upper Fork
The city of Aspen is seeking consultants to help it prepare a river management plan for the upper Roaring Fork River, which has been plagued in drought years by low...
Project aims to restore Roaring Fork flow levels
Healthy Rivers and Streams bestows $35,000 grant to help fund effort
A three-pronged approach to restore local water flows got a shot in the arm on Tuesday when Pitkin County...
City of Aspen Gives the Roaring Fork Another Boost
For the second year in a row, the City of Aspen has voluntarily closed the headgate of the City-owned Wheeler Ditch in an effort to improve flows in the Roaring...
West-Slope Colorado Towns Restore Local Flows, Even as Thirsty Front-Range Lawns Drink Their Rivers
When residents in Denver, Colorado Springs and other cities on the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains turn on their sprinklers to irrigate lawns, they rarely think about the fate...
Aspen Recommits to Improving Roaring Fork Flows
Contacts:
Mitzi Rapkin, City of Aspen, (970) 920-5082, mitzi.rapkin@cityofaspen.com
David Hornbacher, City of Aspen, (970) 429-1983, david.hornbacher@cityofaspen.com
Phil Overeynder, City of Aspen, (970) 920-5111, phil.overeynder@cityofaspen.com
Amy...
Aspen is Water Right Owner That Serves the Needs of Citizens and River
Aspen Journalism’s Brent Gardner-Smith published an article (”State of Colorado’s Instream Flow Program is Lauded, Challenged,” Aspen Daily News, Jan. 21) about the financial and legal challenges the Colorado Water...
State of Colorado’s Instream Flow Program is Lauded, Challenged
DENVER — At least $100 million a year is available annually in Colorado to spend on land conservation, but only about $1.5 million a year is available for buying water...
In Colo. agriculture, efficient water use doesn’t always pay
Sure, Colorado is in a historic drought, and sure, agriculture uses roughly 85 percent of the state’s water.
It seems obvious, then, that making agriculture more efficient is a surefire...
City of Aspen, site visit, June 28, 2013
Edalin Koziol, an attorney at the Colorado Water Trust, traveled to Aspen to participate in a site visit with project partners on June 28, 2013.
...Aspen tries keeping higher flows in Roaring Fork
ASPEN, Colo. (AP) - Aspen is testing a plan to ensure sufficient flows in the Roaring Fork River by reducing the amount of water the city diverts from the stream.
...City commits more water to Roaring Fork
When flows in the Roaring Fork River through Aspen drop below 32 cubic feet per second (cfs), the city of Aspen has agreed to reduce diversions it takes at the...
City of Aspen Plan Will Boost Flows in Roaring Fork
CONTACT:
Mitzi Rapkin, Community Relations Director
City of Aspen
Phone: (970) 920-5082
Email: mitzi.rapkin@cityofaspen.com
http://www.aspenpitkin.com/
Phil Overeynder, Utilities Engineer of Special Projects
City of Aspen
Phone: (970) 920-5111
City of Aspen plan will boost flows in the Roaring Fork
Aspen will reduce Roaring Fork water use, curtail diversions to benefit community river
For decades, large water diversions have reduced the amount of water flowing in the upper Roaring Fork...
Snowpack 23 percent below average
Despite surpassing last season’s snowpack numbers, the amount of precipitation that has fallen this winter is still well below the average.
Area snowpack is currently 21 percent above what was...
Drought conditions persist in Roaring Fork Valley
Marci Krivonen of Aspen Public Radio interviewed Sarah Johnson of the Roaring Fork Conservancy about their efforts to secure flows for rivers in the Roaring Fork Basin, potentially in partnership...
Quantifying the drying during drought
New report looks at low flows in the Roaring Fork and Crystal rivers
BASALT, Colorado — Anyone who drove alongside the Roaring Fork or Crystal rivers last summer knows that...