© 2024 Aspen Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
The environment desk at Aspen Public Radio covers issues in the Roaring Fork Valley and throughout the state of Colorado including water use and quality, impact of recreation, population growth and oil and gas development. APR’s Environment Reporter is Elizabeth Stewart-Severy.

USGS to monitor Maroon Creek stream gage

Elizabeth Stewart-Severy
/
Aspen Public Radio

The City of Aspen wants to know just how much water flows in Maroon Creek and has contracted with the U.S. Geological Survey to keep an eye on it. It’s tied to efforts to make the city water supply more resilient.

Last year the city commissioned a study to see how vulnerable the water supply is to future climate impacts. The results showed a lot of uncertainty, and that's partly because there isn’t historic data for how much water flows in the creeks that supply Aspen's drinking water.

That’s set to change. The USGS and city staff installed a gage to measure stream flow on Maroon Creek near T-Lazy 7 Ranch last November. The gage is now collecting data and Monday, city council approved a contract for the USGS to operate and maintain it. It’s a 5-year contract for $90,000.

 

Aspen native Elizabeth Stewart-Severy is excited to be making a return to both the Red Brick, where she attended kindergarten, and the field of journalism. She has spent her entire life playing in the mountains and rivers around Aspen, and is thrilled to be reporting about all things environmental in this special place. She attended the University of Colorado with a Boettcher Scholarship, and graduated as the top student from the School of Journalism in 2006. Her lifelong love of hockey lead to a stint working for the Colorado Avalanche, and she still plays in local leagues and coaches the Aspen Junior Hockey U-19 girls.
Related Content