Aspen’s 50-year water plan could include a year’s worth of emergency water storage

Two years ago, the city of Aspen hired Carollo Engineers, a water-engineering firm based in Denver, to analyze how much water Aspen might need by 2070. On Nov. 22, the firm presented an integrated water resource plan to the Aspen City Council. Predicting that the city’s population will grow about 1.8% annually, the plan says Aspen could experience an average daily population of 68,000 people. So, to ensure that water is available to this growing city, the firm suggests that Aspen store approximately a year’s worth of water for emergency use. Aspen Journalism’s managing editor, Heather Sackett, sat down with Aspen Public Radio reporter Halle Zander to discuss details of the plan, as well as what kind of emergencies could impact Aspen’s water infrastructure and how the city’s conditional water rights could play a role.