The latest snow surveys, conducted by the USDA - Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), indicate that Colorado's snowpack reached its maximum accumulation for the season, during April. As a whole, the second half of April was considerably drier than normal, which halted any significant additional accumulations. Warm temperatures have allowed snowmelt to proceed as is typically expected. By month's end, snow melt was well underway, especially at lower elevations.
-Full report-Justices looking for comment on water court process
In December 2007, the Colorado Supreme Court established a committee to review the water court process with the goal of identifying ways to make the process more effective, more efficient and less costly. The committee needs input about your water court experiences and your insight into how the process can be improved. Two surveys have been created to gather input from the water community: one survey is geared toward water professionals and the other survey is geared toward non-water professionals/general public. Complete the appropriate survey by May 9. The survey should take about 10 minutes. Click on the link below to begin.
Water Court Professionals (attorneys, water court referees, Judges, engineers, member of a quasi-public entity, etc). Non-Water Professionals/General Public (water rights owner, farmers, recreational user, angler, environmentalist, etc).To learn more, visit the Colorado Supreme Court's website.
Xcel Energy Inc.'s 98-year-old Shoshone power plant in Glenwood Canyon on the Colorado River, which uses water to generate electricity, has returned to operations nearly a year after a pipe burst and flooded the plant. The power plant's repair and continued operations also means that the balance of water rights between the Front Range and Western Slope will continue as it has for years.
-Coverage in The Denver Business Journal-
CRAIG - Although the sky is, at times, still dark and gray, and thermostats around town may fluctuate between a cold winter and a not-quite warm spring, Elkhead Reservoir is open for frolickers and fisherman. And Steve Drake, a founding member of American Bass Anglers District 92 in Craig, is open and ready for the possibilities Elkhead might provide. "I'm sure I'll be out there this year," he said. "Every chance I get." As mentioned in the story, the reservoir was almost doubled through an enlargement project. The Colorado River District was the lead partner in the enlargement.
-Coverage in The Craig Daily Press- An above average snowpack in the Colorado River Basin that will result in a higher than normal inflow into Lake Powell this year will cause increased releases from Lake Powell to Lake Mead. The increased releases are in accordance with the Colorado River Interim Guidelines for Lower Basin Shortages and the Coordinated Operations of Lake Powell and Lake Mead.
-Full Reclamation Press Release- 
MONTROSE - Captured in the imagination, the adobe badlands look like the backs of sleeping dinosaurs dusted with golden sand. In reality their light gray color and sparse vegetation mask the enormous role these Mancos shale, or black shale, landscapes play in issues important to all area residents. The adobes, salt- and selenium-containing remnants of an ancient sea, are the focal point of water quality measures, endangered species survival and centuries of recreational delight - reasons which prompted local land managers several years ago to enlist the help of scientists in uncovering the adobes' mysteries.
-Coverage in The Montrose Daily Press-Why this is important: As the story details, selenium and endangered species issues are major concerns for the Colorado River. The ideas range from tearing out thirsty groves of salt cedar to towing icebergs down from the Arctic, from seeding clouds over the Rockies to filtering salt from seawater.
When it comes to squeezing every drop from the shrinking sponge of the Colorado River, few options, it seems, are too complicated or expensive.
-Coverage in the Las Vegas Review-Journal-
