The City of Aspen hosted an open-house discussion last week about its water rights to build reservoirs on Maroon and Castle creeks, but interested locals still have a lot of questions.
The city hired an environmental consultant to present information and moderate a carefully guided discussion but provided few answers to questions about what these complicated water rights actually mean for the community.
Larissa Read of Common Ground Environmental Consulting offered basic information about water rights on the iconic streams and city staff presented climate change models. But at the end of the meeting, many questions and concerns remained.
“I think there are still a lot of questions and solutions that haven’t been explored,” said Rick Lofaro, executive director of the Roaring Fork Conservancy. “I think there needs to be a discussion about the difference between water demands and true water needs.”
It remains unclear if the city will build reservoirs in the future, and many attendees encouraged alternative storage options, like using beaver dams rather than human construction.
The public can submit email comments through August 19, and city council takes up the issue at a work session in September.
