Upper Blue River Fish Kill

It is December and the Upper Blue River watershed is out of water.  This may have been a mistake by snowmakers who work in the middle of the night, are under pressure by the Broomfield corporate office to make as much snow possible, and need to hype-up nonexistent snow for holiday sales. Or, it might have happened naturally due to the severe drought situation (Not!). Either way, those fish needed water to live.  http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20121206/NEWS/121209901/1078&ParentProfile=1055

It seems the snow industry is deeply concerned about their profits.  This is a report about the climate change and impacts to the ski / snowboard industry. http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/files/climate-impacts-winter-tourism-report.pdf

Who cares about the ski industry? Who cares about the fishing industry?  It’s not about our personal desires or monetary economic needs.  Colorado needs fresh water to live.  In Colorado these decisions are only going to get more difficult.  The Colorado Water Conservation Board will ultimately be the ones making water storage and mitigation decisions that will effect our lives in Colorado. http://cwcb.state.co.us

CWCB meetings are open to the public, and I can tell you from personally attending, there are non enough non-consumptive citizens (recreational users of water) voicing their opinion.  Agriculturalists, municipalities, industrialists are all getting paid to attend these meetings.  They want water for their economic needs, the needs of the new people moving into Colorado, the needs of the cattle and crops we rely upon, and they want to buy more water rights and build more reservoirs (that nature won’t be able to fill).  If you get the chance, show up for a roundtable meeting, tell them your a Boulder Flycaster, unofficially represent TU. Speak on behalf of fisherman.  Don’t let fish kill stories like this become the norm.  There are a lot of people working together on this state-wide problem. Compassion needs to lead the way, and I believe that ultimitely water rights will be donated for the good of the environment. But, without people speaking up, there is no obvious need, only greed.  Please get involved.