{"id":2443530,"date":"2019-04-28T21:52:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-29T03:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/aspen-officials-preparing-for-onslaught-of-avalanche-debris-during-runoff\/"},"modified":"2019-04-29T09:49:50","modified_gmt":"2019-04-29T15:49:50","slug":"aspen-officials-preparing-for-onslaught-of-avalanche-debris-during-runoff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/aspen-officials-preparing-for-onslaught-of-avalanche-debris-during-runoff\/","title":{"rendered":"Aspen officials preparing for onslaught of avalanche debris during runoff"},"content":{"rendered":"
The hydropump on Maroon Creek this March. Peak runoff is expected to come in the next few weeks.<\/strong>
Anna Stonehouse\/The Aspen Times<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

City of Aspen officials are preparing in the coming weeks for massive amounts of debris to come down from Maroon and Castle creeks after historic avalanches this winter.<\/p>\n

Tyler Christoff, the city\u2019s deputy public works director, told City Council last month that with hardly any debris coming down the streams because of drought conditions last year and avalanche debris this year, the head gates on Castle and Maroon creeks could get clogged.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are anticipating a double whammy coming down stream once we start seeing that melt off,\u201d he said at the March 26 council meeting.<\/a><\/p>\n

Peak runoff is expected to come in the next few weeks.<\/p>\n

At that same meeting, Margaret Medellin, the city\u2019s utilities portfolio manager, said the city\u2019s drinking water could be at risk if the head gates are obstructed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are going to be monitoring conditions at our head gate,\u201d she said. \u201cWe expect avalanche debris will reach our head gates and it\u2019s going to take a considerable effort to keep those clear.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dave Hornbacher, the city\u2019s director of utilities, told The Aspen Times last week that when one of the avalanches occurred in the Maroon Creek Valley in March, the USGS monitor on the head gate showed that almost no water came through for a couple of hours.<\/p>\n

He said crews are checking the head gates twice a day, as well as going higher into the watershed to assess the situation.<\/p>\n

City officials also are ensuring that heavy equipment can make it to the head gates in case large amounts of debris need to be hauled out, Hornbacher said.<\/p>\n

Medellin told council that the area was seeing average snowpack conditions until March when it dramatically changed with record amounts of snowfall.<\/p>\n

The entire state saw increased snowpack that month, which is unprecedented, she said.<\/p>\n

And in the continental U.S., it was the wettest year in history, Medellin noted.<\/p>\n

Last fall, Pitkin County and most of the state were dealing with severe drought conditions, but by February there was some relief in sight, she told council.<\/p>\n

A big snowpack typically translates into a big runoff year but hydrologists and other observers say that might not happen this spring because a very thirsty ground will absorb the water.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe state continues to warn water providers that as the region recovers from the extreme dry conditions of 2018, soil moisture deficits are likely to result in lower runoff than would normally be expected for current snowpack conditions,\u201d Medellin wrote in a memo to council.<\/a><\/p>\n

The city remains in a stage 2 water shortage, which went into effect for the first time in history last August.<\/p>\n

Much of the state remains in drought status, including Pitkin County, according to Medellin.<\/p>\n

City Council in March agreed with staff\u2019s recommendation to be cautiously optimistic in its approach to drought declarations as the irrigation season begins, and the city will stay in step with what the state does.<\/p>\n

The state drought task force recommended April 1 to the governor\u2019s office that it remain in a holding pattern and refrain from altering the drought status.<\/p>\n

The city will wait until that task force meets again May 6 to decide whether to change its drought status.<\/p>\n

Medellin and Hornbacher plan to update council at its meeting May 20.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are going to be very attentive and paying attention to what\u2019s going on,\u201d Hornbacher said, adding conditions can change quickly in the high country. \u201cWe are still being very cautionary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many of the restrictions under a stage 2 water shortage<\/a> are common sense practices that may be extended, city officials noted.<\/p>\n

Stage 2 comes with mandatory restrictions for all Aspen water customers, including no watering lawns more than three days a week and no more than 30 minutes per sprinkler zone per day.<\/p>\n

Restrictions also include no watering native areas more than two days a week and no watering lawns between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., and at any time when it is raining.<\/p>\n

And there cannot be any watering of lawns, landscaping or amenity resulting in ponding or the flowing of water onto paved surfaces. There also is no washing of sidewalks, driveways, patios, tennis courts and parking areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur community really responded to the situation we were in and I think they learned that they can use a lot less water,\u201d Medellin told council. \u201cSo we don\u2019t want to open the flood gates, so to speak, and say, \u2018Use all the water you want,\u2019 because that\u2019s never going to be true.\u201d<\/p>\n

csackariason@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

City of Aspen officials are preparing in the coming weeks for massive amounts of debris to come down from Maroon and Castle creeks after historic avalanches this winter. Tyler Christoff, the city\u2019s deputy public works director, told City Council last month that with hardly any debris coming down the streams because of drought conditions last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2443530","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-17 11:08:47","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2443530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2443530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2443530\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2443530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2443530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2443530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}