Mesa County authorities have downgraded the alert level for residents near the West Salt Creek landslide area near Collbran because of recent warm temperatures and lower creek levels.
Homeowners were May 27 after a water surge at the landslide area prompted by spring runoff.
Officials say that while the immediate threat seems to have diminished, the site remains unsafe and that people should not venture near it.
The 2.8-mile-long West Salt Creek landslide on the Grand Mesa on May 25, 2014, was the longest such slide in Colorado history. .
Worries of another catastrophe have persisted in the slide’s wake, particularly last spring, when heavy rains . The main risk, officials say, is in early spring as snowmelt travels down the slide area.
Water that has collected in a depression near the top of the slide has created a “sag pond,” which continues to In October 2015, the Colorado Geological Survey said conditions remain at the West Salt Creek area that could prompt another disaster of comparable magnitude.
However conditions have stabilized since late last month, when the alert level was raised, authorities say.
The amount of snow left above the West Salt Creek landslide is no longer at a level where experts believe it is necessary for residents to remain on heightened alert, the county sheriff’s office said.
