Water access is definitely an issue, but I can't believe we're still talking about damming. Reservoirs have been shown again and again to decrease groundwater recharge, increase evaporation, and cut off water access to downstream communities, thus making them reliant on the very reservoir that took away their water in the first place. I'm not super familiar with this specific area, but I doubt it's much different than others that have failed to fulfill their purpose.
I have often wondered if we're changing the way the Earth's ecosystems are supposed to interact by damming. Aurora is trying a new policy to encourage landscaping that isn't quite so thirsty. No new golf courses, etc. But you look at a reservoir like Horsetooth or Dillon and see how huge they are, it's not natural to offset that much water.
I think it's definitely a trade-off but this seems to be an extremely hard pill for Lakewood to swallow, given that they won't actually get any of the extra water stored away in the reservoir. It seems using the quarries would be a bit more feasible, but I'm not an engineer. Thanks for reading!
Water access is definitely an issue, but I can't believe we're still talking about damming. Reservoirs have been shown again and again to decrease groundwater recharge, increase evaporation, and cut off water access to downstream communities, thus making them reliant on the very reservoir that took away their water in the first place. I'm not super familiar with this specific area, but I doubt it's much different than others that have failed to fulfill their purpose.
I have often wondered if we're changing the way the Earth's ecosystems are supposed to interact by damming. Aurora is trying a new policy to encourage landscaping that isn't quite so thirsty. No new golf courses, etc. But you look at a reservoir like Horsetooth or Dillon and see how huge they are, it's not natural to offset that much water.
I sure will miss biking the Mt Carbon loop if this happens but water will always be an issue for us especially as droughts become more severe.
I think it's definitely a trade-off but this seems to be an extremely hard pill for Lakewood to swallow, given that they won't actually get any of the extra water stored away in the reservoir. It seems using the quarries would be a bit more feasible, but I'm not an engineer. Thanks for reading!