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Environment | How wildfires are threatening Colorado water…
Friday, May 15th 2026

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How wildfires are threatening Colorado water supplies — and costing lots of money

Fires prompt new water treatment plants, expensive remedies

Warm temperatures this spring melt away the winter’s snowpack on the scar of the East Troublesome fire near the headwaters of the Colorado River in Rocky Mountain National Park on May 13, 2023. In 2020 the East Troublesome fire moved quickly through the area and burned more than 120,000 acres in a single day. The flight for aerial photography was provided by LightHawk. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
Warm temperatures this spring melt away the winter’s snowpack on the scar of the East Troublesome fire near the headwaters of the Colorado River in Rocky Mountain National Park on May 13, 2023. In 2020 the East Troublesome fire moved quickly through the area and burned more than 120,000 acres in a single day. The flight for aerial photography was provided by LightHawk. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
DENVER, CO - NOVEMBER 8: Elise Schmelzer - Staff portraits at the Denver Post studio. (Photo by Eric Lutzens/The Denver Post)
By | eschmelzer@denverpost.com | The Denver Post
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The Colorado River this spring ran high, fast and so full of sediment pushed downstream from wildfire burn scars that the water treatment plant in Hot Sulphur Springs couldn't keep up.
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