Heather Sackett

Heather Sackett is the managing editor at Aspen Journalism and the editor and reporter on AJ's Water Desk. She has also reported for The Denver Post and the Telluride Daily Planet. Heather has a master’s degree from CU’s Center for Environmental Journalism and her reporting has been recognized by the Colorado Press Association.

Environment

Feds rule that next round of drought relief funding won’t cover tribes’ unused water

Heather Sackett

The 30 tribes of the Colorado River basin have rights to use about 25% of the water, and these rights are senior to those of nearly all other water users in the basin. “Bucket 1” funded the System Conservation Pilot Program, administered by the Upper Colorado River Commission, which pays eligible water users in the Upper Basin states (Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico) to leave their fields dry for an irrigation season and let that water flow downstream. Since water conservation in the Colorado River basin has largely meant paying agricultural water users to cut back, paying tribes who already aren’t using their water to continue to not use it won’t result in an immediate, measurable amount of conserved water.
Environment

Colorado’s water users are told “use it or lose it.” But is the threat real?

Heather Sackett

Every 10 years, officials from the Colorado Division of Water Resources review every water right — through diversion records submitted by water users and site visits — to see whether it has been used at some point in the previous decade. Abandonment-process protections. Although the concept of abandonment may loom large in the minds of water users, only a tiny percentage of water rights ends up on the abandonment list every 10 years, and it’s rare for the state to formally abandon a water right. . If water users find themselves on the abandonment list, they have a year to file an objection with DWR, and many argue that they did not intend to abandon their water right.
Environment

In dry years, Colorado’s Crystal River runs at a trickle — but why?

Heather Sackett

Drought and relentless demand converge in iconic river basin.
Environment

Stream restoration bill watered down

Heather Sackett

Projects that mimic beaver activity not addressed in amended version of a bill in the Colorado statehouse
Colorado Is Examining Water Speculation, And Finding It's 'All The Problems' In One

Luke Runyon

The conversation around water speculation has been heating up in Colorado in recent months. At the direction of state lawmakers, a work group has been meeting regularly to explore ways to strengthen the state’s anti-speculation law.