The officials voiced those concerns Wednesday as a brigade of state firefighters trained at the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel, spraying water from a $700,000 pumper truck, a smaller “quick reaction” pumper truck, and hoses. Another brigade trained at the Hanging Lake Tunnel in Glenwood Canyon. A few years ago, CDOT crews at the Eisenhower Tunnel, which runs for 1.7 miles under the Continental Divide, relied on a single 30-year-old fire truck.

At least four certified firefighters man the Eisenhower tunnel around the clock, tasked with responding in seconds if sensors detect flames — first evacuating people, then clearing vehicles, then activating a $25 million automated spray system. “We never know what’s going to happen. We always have to be ready,” four-year firefighter Damion Sands said during a break. They count on support from full fire crews arriving from Summit County to the west or Clear Creek County to the east.

For decades, CDOT has managed the vehicle fire risks from industry tanker trucks hauling oil, gas, and other hazardous materials on I-70. State officials have relied on the practice of diverting all hazmat trucks off I-70 and over 11,990-foot Loveland Pass.

But now there’s a new threat.

“What we’re worried about is the EV fires. They don’t go out,” said Jori Ernst, CDOT’s emergency manager, during the training. “We’re not going to be able to fight them.”

Firefighters in full yellow garb, lugging respirators, practiced with hoses and water spray guns that can be controlled using joy sticks inside the trucks. They’re developing strategies for removing burning EVs from the tunnel and letting them burn outside. Crews are practicing with EV fire blankets — heavy tarps they can throw over burning vehicles to contain flames.

There’s never been a fatality caused by a vehicle fire in the Colorado I-70 mountain tunnels. But the a year ago in Wyoming that killed three people, and the 1999 in Europe that killed 39 people, have spurred safety efforts worldwide.

While EV risks aren’t fully understood, firefighters know the batteries that power them “burn hot, and release a lot of toxins,” complicating responses, CDOT fire program manager Peter Igel said. “Do we prevent the exposures and let those fires burn? Or do we try to suppress the fire? If the fire is in the tunnel, hopefully, we can move the burning vehicle outside.”

Since 2017, vehicles have caught fire and burned in the Eisenhower tunnel five times, forcing closures that lasted up to 14 hours, said Paul Fox, manager of CDOT’s tunnels.

The last fire on July 17, 2023, engulfed a van carrying 10 tourists, leading to an eight-hour closure. “We got them all out. They were worried about their luggage,” Fox said.

Another fire broke out in a box truck loaded with cardboard, he said. And one broke in an RV when a generator ignited.

“In the end, it doesn’t matter what starts the fire. It is if the big one happens. We are just worried about that.”

The will nearly double its spending on vegetation management to protect the state’s 9,000-mile highway network, tapping $12 million not used for snowplowing during this record-dry winter to hire tree-removal contractors, agency officials confirmed Friday.

They’ll cut down thousands of trees, with trunk diameters ranging from 2 inches to 2 feet, along highways and in adjacent forests to create bigger fire breaks. CDOT crews also will expand their twice-a-year mowing and spraying of herbicides.

“Colorado has seen record-breaking fires over the past few decades, and CDOT has to plan for the reality that we may see more record-breaking fires in years to come,” agency spokeswoman Stacia Sellers said.

State transportation commissioners this week approved the effort after agency meteorologists warned them of above-normal potential for large, fast-moving fires due to record-low snow and high temperatures. Wind-whipped fires this winter have forced highway closures along Interstate 25 north of Denver and Colorado 115 south of Colorado Springs.

On Friday, a 1,000-acre fire along Colorado 115 in Fremont County blew up, forcing a closure of lanes in both directions along a stretch north of Penrose.

“The ground will be dry and exposed to warming temperatures weeks ahead of when we’d normally expect it, and dry vegetation along road shoulders is fuel that roadside ignitions feed on. In most years, we have a buffer of snowmelt and spring moisture that keeps fire risk manageable until the summer. This year, we may not have that buffer,” Sellers said.

“When fires move fast through dry terrain and reach a highway corridor, we can go from an open road to a closed road in a matter of hours.”

Over nine months since July, CDOT-backed forest crews have removed 3,848 trees at a cost of $483,167, up from 2,453 trees cut down over the previous year, according to agency records. CDOT crews mowed and sprayed along 27,983 miles of road over the past nine months, costing $3.8 million, up from 27,754 miles, the records showed.

In 2020, fires forced CDOT to close multiple highways. The Grizzly Creek fire, which started in Glenwood Canyon, compelled an unprecedented two-week shutdown of Interstate 70, one of the nation’s most critical freight and travel corridors. The Cameron Peak fire forced the closure of Colorado 14 between Fort Collins and Walden, and the Pine Gulch fire closed Colorado 139 at Douglas Pass.

Climate conditions “affect everything we do,” state transportation commissioner Terry Hart said at a meeting on Wednesday, highlighting increased dangers. “It isn’t just in the mountains. It����ap out on the high plains as well.”

The state’s push to protect transportation reflected widening concern about the impacts of unprecedented dry and hot conditions at the end of a record-warm winter. Snow that fell recently in western Colorado and in the windy Front Range mountain foothills has melted. Multiple fires broke out, ignited by falling power lines and other human causes.

CDOT is working with the to prioritize high-risk highways. The agency does not employ arborists. Contractors will focus on removing dead and diseased trees most prone to burning and falling across highways, taking a “surgical” approach, mindful of environmental impacts on water flows and rules protecting migratory birds, a threatened rare mouse, and fish, CDOT deputy director of operations Bob Fifer told state commissioners.

They’ve started the clearing along highways in El Paso and Teller counties near Colorado Springs, Larimer and Jefferson counties in metro Denver, Garfield County along I-70, and in southwestern Colorado’s Montezuma, La Plata, Archuleta, Dolores and San Miguel counties.

Federal and local land managers will work with CDOT to extend clearing into surrounding forests in mountain corridors along U.S. 6, Colorado  72, U.S. 160, U.S. 285 and portions of I-70, officials said.

The idea is to create clear breaks that can slow or stop flames.

“Our highway corridors run through some of the most fire-prone landscapes in the country,” Fifer said in an agency statement. “We have a responsibility not only to keep roads open, but to make sure our right of way isn’t contributing to the fire problem.”

CDOT also plans messaging to ramp up driver safety when driving through Colorado’s forests and grasslands because sparks from discarded cigarettes, hot catalytic converters or truck trailer chains easily can ignite dry weeds and wood along roads.

Charity Louise Johnson, 35, was arrested in Eagle County on suspicion of first-degree murder and booked into the Adams County jail late Tuesday, according to jail records.

Investigators identified Johnson and Kenny Espinosa, 27, as suspects after police found a man dead with gunshot wounds in the parking lot of Wolff Run Park on Saturday morning. Neighbors reported hearing gunshots and seeing a car drive away from the park overnight.

Espinosa was arrested Tuesday after he shot at and fled from Eagle County deputies when they stopped his vehicle using spike strips. The manhunt to find him shut down Interstate 70 through Glenwood Canyon for several hours.

Westminster police previously released an incorrect spelling of Espinosa’s last name and corrected the spelling Wednesday.

Espinosa was taken to a hospital “for medical clearance” after his arrest and will be booked into the Adams County jail when he’s released, Westminster police said.

One person was shot by Eagle County sheriff’s deputies during the initial confrontation Tuesday, but the sheriff’s office confirmed that person was not Espinosa.

The investigation is ongoing, and the 17th Judicial District will determine official charges in the case.

Kenny Espinosa, 27, is a suspect in the death of a man found shot to death at Wolff Run Park early Saturday morning, Westminster Police Department spokesperson Samantha Spitz said.

She confirmed that he had been taken into custody shortly after 2:30 p.m. in a text message to The Denver Post.

Westminster police responded at 7 a.m. Saturday to a request for a welfare check at the park after people found the man lying face-down in the parking lot near West 76th Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard. The man, who was dead, had several gunshot wounds, police said.

Eagle County sheriff’s deputies forced a suspect car linked to a Westminster homicide to a stop on eastbound I-70 early Tuesday morning. Espinosa then fled the scene after a shootout with law enforcement that injured another person in the car, according to a from the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office.

Eagle County Sheriff James Van Beek previously identified Espinosa as a 30-year-old man.

The Westminster shooting victim will be identified by the Adams County Coroner’s Office.

Vail Public Safety Communications, the dispatch center that serves all of Eagle County, received an alert just after 4 a.m. Tuesday that Espinosa may be traveling near Gypsum, according to the release.

Espinosa was believed to be armed and accompanied by hostages, Eagle County sheriff’s officials said in the release. Investigators have not yet determined if the five people in the car with the homicide suspect were hostages or how they were related, Van Beek said.

An Eagle County deputy found a car matching the suspect vehicle’s description speeding down westbound I-70 near Glenwood Springs early Tuesday morning and pursued it, according to the release.

Deputies tried to pull the driver over after he exited the westbound highway at No Name and got back onto eastbound I-70, but the driver refused to stop, sheriff’s officials said. Eagle County deputies then forced the car to a stop with a spike strip near milemarker 130.

Two people got out of the car, at least one of whom had a gun, and shots were fired between the two and law enforcement, Eagle County sheriff’s officials said. Sheriff’s officials did not specify if Espinosa was the driver.

One of the two was shot during the exchange and one fled the scene, prompting a manhunt, according to the sheriff’s office.

The remaining four passengers in the car were then contacted by law enforcement, according to the release.

As of 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, I-70 had reopened between exit 114 for west Glenwood Springs and exit 147 in Gypsum, .

Updated 2:56 p.m., Jan. 14, 2026: Because of incorrect information from a source, a previous version of this story incorrectly spelled Kenny Espinosa’s last name. The story has been updated.

White House Pizza

Headed to the mountains for the holidays and bummed about the slow progression of the snowpack? Ditch the apres ski and head to Carbondale for a pie at White House Pizza. The rustic restaurant has one heck of a lunch special, offering an 8-inch version of any signature pizza, a side and a drink (even a beer), all under $15.99. The sweet and spicy was packed with pineapples, jalapeños and spiced Italian sausage. The pizza dough was so fluffy and porous on the inside, almost like focaccia. I was not leaving the crust behind.

801 Main Court, Carbondale; 

El Taco Express

Say you go out looking for William H. Macy — actor, star of Showtime’s Shameless, and Roaring Fork Valley resident — at Woody Creek Distillers, the distillery he co-owns in the town of Basalt. You likely won’t run into him there, though a cardboard cutout of him holding up some fine-grain mash liquor does greet everyone who walks through the doors. Outside of the distillery, I found a surprise consolation prize: the El Taco Express food truck. (The business also operates in Glenwood Springs and Rifle.) Tacos are $3 each and rich with flavor. The birria was juicy, the al pastor was well-seasoned, and the salsas were scintillating. I was left wanting at least three more — the sign of an ultimate street taco, in my opinion.

60 Sunset Dr., Basalt (other locations listed online); 

The Pullman

Should you find yourself traveling cross-state along I-70, a pit stop at Glenwood Springs for dinner might make your heart a-flutter. The Pullman, a farm-to-table restaurant right off the resort town’s riverfront, prepared exquisite dishes using a select few ingredients. The kitchen takes spuds and turns them into soft gnocchi, pierogis and beignets with a perfect golden crust. Their soup of the season, a butternut squash puree with a toasted marshmallow on top, was simply one of the best dishes I had all year. It’s a sweet combination that made my memories of Thanksgivings past come rushing back to my head.

330 7th St., Glenwood Springs; 

Riviera Supper Club and Scratch Kitchen

For the last in my “mountain edition” of eating recommendations, I’m going back to the first meal I had during a recent visit to Glenwood Springs. The Riviera Supper Club and Scratch Kitchen is named so for its prime location on the banks of the Colorado River. Its menu consists of meat entrees and vegetarian options like garden pasta, beef Wellington and lasagna. I opted for the beef stroganoff, a rich and tender plate of Colorado beef, mushrooms, onions and linguine tossed in a brandy cream sauce, topped with pickled red onion and served with a slice of garlic bread. Though the plating could have been better, the dish was prepared fantastically. It’s the kind of hearty Alpine food our mountain region chefs know all too well.

702 Grand Ave., Glenwood Springs; 

The Colorado Water Conservation Board voted unanimously Wednesday night to accept the two water rights tied to the Shoshone Power Plant into its environmental flow program. The approval is a critical piece in the Colorado River District’s $99 million deal with the owner of the aging plant in Glenwood Canyon — Xcel Energy — but the deal has faced pushback from Front Range water providers that fear the change could impact their supplies.

Backers of the deal aim to make sure the water now used by the small hydroelectric plant — and then put back in the river — will always flow westward.

“The importance of today’s vote cannot be overstated as a legacy decision for Colorado water and the Western Slope,” Andy Mueller, general manager of the Colorado River District, said in a news release. “It secures an essential foundation for the health of the Colorado River and the communities it sustains.”

Colorado water officials hailed the decision as a monumental achievement for the state that will help protect the river and its ecosystem. The allows the Water Conservation Board to manage dedicated water rights for the health of rivers, streams and lakes.

“Acquiring the Shoshone water rights for instream flow use is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to preserve and improve the natural environment of the Colorado River,” Dan Gibbs, the executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, said in a news release.

One of the main sticking points during the hourslong meeting Wednesday was whether the board should manage the water rights with the River District. That would include decisions on how and when to require upstream users — like Front Range utilities — to send more water downstream. Generally, the board is the sole manager of water rights in its , which the Shoshone rights are now a part of.

Several Western Slope entities said they would withdraw their financial support from the purchase if the Colorado River District was not allowed to co-manage the right with the board. Local governments and other organizations across the Western Slope promised more than $16 million toward the purchase.

Front Range water providers argued that the statewide board is the sole authority that can manage such rights and should have final decision-making power.

The water board instead approved the co-management strategy, which means that the two authorities will decide together how to act when there is not enough water to meet the right’s obligations.

The Colorado River District — a taxpayer-funded agency that works to protect Western Slope water — wants to purchase the Shoshone rights to ensure that water will continue to flow west past the plant and downstream to the towns, farms and others who rely on the Colorado River, even if the century-old power plant were decommissioned.

A stream of Western Slope elected officials, water managers and conservation groups testified in support of the deal and the rare opportunity it presented.

“The Shoshone call is one of the great stabilizing forces on the river — a heartbeat that has kept our valley farms alive, our communities whole and our economies steady even in lean years,” Mesa County Commissioner Bobbie Daniel said, urging the board to approve the plan.

The meeting on Wednesday came after weeks of extensive mediation between the River District and Front Range entities. However, the representatives from opposite sides of the Continental Divide could not come to a consensus on a way forward.

Representatives from Front Range utilities have said repeatedly that they supported the purchase as a whole, but they stated concerns about the purchase changing the status quo on the river.

The water rights connected to the plant are the oldest major water rights on the main stem of the Colorado River, which means that they must be fulfilled before any rights established afterward. Those include more junior rights held by Front Range utilities to divert water from the river and bring it under the Continental Divide to their customers.

The plant����ap rights can command up to 1,408 cubic feet of water per second year-round, or about 1 million acre-feet a year — enough water for 2 million to 3 million households’ annual use.

The Water Conservation Board’s approval is one of several that must be acquired by the River District. The deal now must go through the state’s water court and its Public Utilities Commission.

Along with the $16 million coming from Western Slope entities, the district will pay $20 million and the Water Conservation Board allocated another $20 million. The financial plan also includes $40 million awarded under the federal Inflation Reduction Act by the Biden administration, but that money remains frozen as part of the Trump administration’s broad halt to spending by the previous president.

That����ap why I’m proud to support the . This legislation isn’t just a tax package — it����ap a lifeline for Colorado’s subcontractors and a major investment in the future of our local infrastructure.

One of the most important pieces of this bill is how it strengthens the Highway Trust Fund, the critical federal funding source for road and bridge projects nationwide. For too long, the trust fund has faced uncertainty, leaving states like Colorado waiting on unreliable federal dollars to repair highways, widen rural roads, and modernize infrastructure. This bill provides new resources and stability for the fund ensuring that infrastructure projects can move forward without delay, and that subcontractors like drywall crews, electricians, and concrete companies have steady work.

For years, the Highway Trust Fund has teetered on the edge of insolvency, made worse by outdated funding mechanisms that haven’t kept pace with the demands on our roads. The One Big Beautiful addresses that problem head-on by redirecting revenues from unused COVID-era funds and to provide a fresh infusion of dollars into the trust fund.

It also modernizes the funding formula to ensure states like Colorado — with growing populations and aging infrastructure — get a fairer share of the pot. That means more dollars for projects like Interstate 70 improvements through Glenwood Canyon, the long-needed expansion of US-85 in Weld County, and safety upgrades to rural roads that support our state’s agriculture and energy economies.

Just as important, it opens up the door to new projects across Colorado — such as bridge replacements in Pueblo County, resurfacing and widening Highway 50 in Otero County, and long-overdue maintenance on key mountain corridors like US-285.

In the Denver metro area, it could help accelerate long-discussed expansions of Interstate 270 and Interstate 225 to ease congestion and improve freight movement. These are the kinds of projects that not only modernize our transportation systems but keep Colorado subcontractors like drywall crews, concrete teams, electricians, and framers employed year-round.

When federal infrastructure dollars flow reliably, it benefits more than just highway contractors. It supports the small, local subcontractors who take on everything from bridge railings and retaining walls to electrical systems and interior work on public projects. In my business, those projects help keep our crews on job sites and paychecks in the hands of local workers.

The bill also delivers tax relief for small businesses like mine. By lowering federal tax rates for pass-through businesses and expanding deductions for equipment, vehicles, and operational costs, it allows companies to invest in their teams, upgrade equipment, and weather tough times like inflation and labor shortages.

On top of that, the One Big Beautiful Bill cuts red tape, simplifying the permitting process for infrastructure projects. Too often, subcontractors are forced to sit idle while bureaucratic delays stall projects. Streamlining these approvals means faster job starts, steadier work, and less wasted time and money for businesses like ours.

This legislation represents the kind of practical, pro-growth policy our industry and our state need. It����ap not about partisan politics — it����ap about keeping Coloradans working and making sure our infrastructure is safe, modern, and built to last. Subcontractors, suppliers, and tradesmen across Colorado are ready to get to work — and this bill clears the path for us to do just that.

Rusty Plowman is the owner of Delta Drywall, a commercial subcontractor based in Colorado, as well as the Past President of ASA Colorado and Past President of ASA National.

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It was the first time larvae from the destructive invasive species had been found in the river in Colorado. For nearly a year, despite increased sampling, state wildlife officials didn’t see any more evidence of the mussels.

But their hopes were dashed earlier this month when Colorado Parks and Wildlife detected three more tiny larvae in the stretch of the Colorado River between Glenwood Springs and Silt. — known to devastate ecosystems and clog critical infrastructure — had once again found their way to the river that is the backbone of Colorado and the Southwest’s water supply.

“We were all hoping against hope that it was an isolated incident,” said Tina Bergonzini, the general manager of the , based in Grand Junction, which manages a Mesa County irrigation system that relies on the Colorado River. “It is scary, from a water management standpoint, when you have something that could affect delivery and have ramifications for our entire community. It����ap a scary thought.”

With the discovery of additional larvae this summer, the Colorado River from Glenwood Springs to the Utah border is now considered positive for zebra mussels. The river can shed that designation only once routine testing confirms a lack of zebra mussel larvae for five continuous years. CPW has beefed up its sampling and lab staff to catch any additional larvae — called veligers — quickly.

The invasive species destroys aquatic ecosystems, causes millions of dollars in damage to infrastructure like dams and irrigation pipes, and reproduces at an incredible rate.

Once established, experts said, zebra mussels are nearly impossible to eradicate.

, a freshwater ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystems Studies who has studied mussels for decades, said he didn’t know of an example where zebra mussels were eradicated from a river system once adult populations had established themselves.

“They have the potential to radically change the ecosystem,” he said.

The spread of mussels

The threat of zebra mussels has always lurked over Colorado’s borders.

The mussels — about the size of a fingernail once mature — are native to Eastern Europe and first . The species has since established itself in all of the Great Lakes, in all large eastern river systems and in 33 states. Just 150 miles east of the Colorado state line, Kansas’ Cedar Bluff Reservoir has hosted a zebra mussel infestation since 2016.

Quagga mussels — an equally destructive relative of the zebra mussel — have established populations downstream on the Colorado River in the system’s two major reservoirs: Lakes Powell and Mead.

Mussels and their larvae spread in two ways: By floating downstream or when they are transported by people from an infected body of water on .

Veligers are microscopic and a single quart of water can contain hundreds, Strayer said. Each year, a mature female mussel can release up to one million eggs.

Federal and state agencies for decades have fought to keep the mussels from the West’s waterways, but the species has been detected in California, Utah and Colorado. The species failed to establish itself in Utah but survived in California.

In Colorado, CPW has detected veligers in Grand Lake and in Pueblo Reservoir, but the species did not establish sustained populations.

The state’s first adult mussel was found in 2022 in Highline Lake, northwest of Grand Junction. In 2023, CPW treated the lake with a pesticide, but mussels were found again a few months later. In 2024, the agency drained the lake completely to kill off the mussels.

But just weeks after the lake was refilled this spring and despite strict decontamination protocols for visitors, samplers found more mussels — and, for the first time, they also found some in neighboring Mack Mesa Lake.

CPW officials have not yet decided what the next steps are for the two lakes, said Robert Walters, CPW’s program manager.

The discovery of additional veligers in the Colorado River has prompted CPW to bulk up its sampling and testing staff. The agency dedicated a team of three technicians based in Grand Junction to sample the river and doubled the size of its Aquatic Nuisance Species laboratory so that samples could be processed more quickly. It also dedicated staff members from its Denver office to sample the river all the way from the Granby Dam to the mouth of Glenwood Canyon.

The river is now being tested weekly, as are two of its tributaries, the Eagle and Roaring Fork rivers.

At any given time, CPW could dedicate up to 12 staff members to zebra mussel detection, Walters said. In 2024, CPW collected 275 samples from the river for testing. Since mid-April this year, CPW has already collected 279 samples.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, too, is on high alert.

The federal agency owns irrigation canals in Mesa County and has increased testing in those systems, said Ethan Scott, the lands and recreation division manager from Reclamation’s Western Colorado Area Office.

“There’s definitely a concern that if they’re getting in our river, it won’t be hard for them to move to lakes and reservoirs from there,” he said.

Federal and state officials, as well as water managers and ecologists, are urging everyone who recreates or works in rivers and lakes to take steps to kill any mussel larvae that may be stuck on them or their equipment. They should drain, wash and dry all equipment and keep an eye out for adult mussels, which often have black and white stripes.

“If everyone is doing this, we have a pretty good chance of stopping this from spreading farther than it has,” Walters said.

‘Almost everything transformed’

Once established, zebra mussels filter huge quantities of plankton and other organic matter from the water — eliminating food sources for other species.

In New York’s Hudson River system, which Strayer studied, the invasive mussels filtered the river’s entire water supply every day, halved the amount of fish food available, shrank fish populations, reduced oxygen levels in the water, changed the river’s chemistry and decimated the native mussel population.

“Almost everything we measured about the river changed,” he said. “Almost everything transformed.”

Outside of mass ecological change, the mussels can wreak havoc on the valves, pumps and pipes that make up irrigation systems and dams. Adult mussels attach themselves to hard surfaces in incredible densities — up to 1,000 per square foot. They can constrict water flow in pipes and jam moving parts.

As general manager of the Grand Valley Water Users Association, Bergonzini is tasked with running an irrigation system that delivers water to 23,000 acres of land. That includes the Government Highline Canal, where CPW detected veligers last year.

Adult mussels could quickly and easily clog the irrigation system’s 150 miles of pipes as well as the smaller tubes farmers use to drip water directly on crops, like the region’s famed Palisade peaches. The pipes and tubes are meant to conserve water by replacing open ditches and reducing evaporation.

But they are an Achilles’ heel in a mussels infestation, Bergonzini said.

Adult mussels could also clog the association’s fish screen, which keeps fish — including endangered species — from getting trapped in the system’s canals, instead returning them to the river.

The association paid $80,000 to treat the entire system with an ionized copper solution at the end of the last irrigation season and will likely do so again, Bergonzini said

“It����ap something that we’re going to have to work with our water users to raise the money for,” she said. “And that����ap just for the prevention — it’ll be even more if we end up having adult populations and have to mitigate throughout the year.”

Similar treatment is not possible in the Colorado River itself. There’s just too much water, said Strayer, the ecologist.

“You would need a line of rail cars to dump the substance in the river,” he said.

Bergonzini urged Coloradans and visitors to be vigilant when they work or play in the state’s waters.

“There’s a mindset that they’re already here, but that����ap incredibly short-sighted,” she said. “We all need to look at the communities and recreation we have — and realize that all of that could be affected by people’s unwillingness to help stop the spread of this invasive species.”

Four major Front Range water providers — Denver Water, Aurora Water, Colorado Springs Utilities and Northern Water — will present their concerns about the purchase of the water rights by the Colorado River District during a hearing in September before the Colorado Water Conservation Board.

The board during a special meeting Tuesday decided to hold the hearing to hash out the urban utilities’ concerns about how much water should be allocated to the right. The board must decide by September whether to approve the new use of the water right proposed by the district.

The Colorado River District, a taxpayer-funded agency that works to protect Western Slope water, in 2023 announced a $99 million deal to buy the water rights from Xcel Energy, which owns the power plant. The purchase — a decades-long effort by the district — will ensure that water will continue to flow west past the plant tucked into Glenwood Canyon and downstream to the towns, farms and others who rely on the Colorado River even if the century-old power plant were decommissioned.

Each of the Front Range utilities have said they do not oppose the purchase itself. They do, however, question the river district’s calculations of how much water has been used historically under the rights. Under Colorado water law, that number will determine how much water must flow through the plant in the future.

The district’s calculations are too high, the four utilities argue, and would leave them with less water from the Colorado River for their own uses.

The river district has repeatedly said it plans to maintain the status quo and will not use more water than has been used in the past. Disputes about the amount of water historically used under a water right should be settled in water court, the district’s general manager Andy Mueller said Tuesday in a statement.

“We are deeply concerned that the Front Range entities requesting this contested hearing are asking the CWCB to encroach on the jurisdiction of water court,” Mueller said. “… We believe maintaining public trust relies on following the right path and avoiding political intrusion.”

The tension over the Shoshone water rights is another iteration of the decades-long friction between the highly populated urban Front Range and the more rural Western Slope.

Combined, the four Front Range utilities provide water to more than 3 million customers and source a significant amount of that water from the Colorado River. Denver Water, for example, draws about 50% of its supply from the river basin.

The 1905 water rights connected to the Shoshone Power Plant are the oldest major water rights on the main stem of the Colorado River, which means that they must be fulfilled before any rights established afterward. That includes more junior rights held by Front Range utilities to divert water from the river and bring it over the Continental Divide to their customers.

The power plant does not consume the water, instead sending it through its turbines before putting it back in the river. The plant����ap rights can command up to 1,408 cubic feet of water per second year-round, or about 1 million acre-feet a year — enough water for 2 million to 3 million households’ annual use.

Local governments and organizations across the Western Slope have banded together and contributed more than $16 million toward the purchase. Along with its own $20 million contribution, the Colorado River District raised $20 million from the Colorado Water Conservation Board.

The financial plan also includes $40 million awarded under the federal Inflation Reduction Act by the Biden administration, but the Trump administration froze that money days later as part of a broad halt to spending by the previous president. The money remains in limbo, said Matt Aboussie, director of communications for the Colorado River District, though lawmakers from both political parties continue to lobby for its release.

, signed into law Thursday afternoon by Gov. Jared Polis, creates a permitting system so vendors can install and remove tire chains and other traction devices to help passing drivers better navigate snowy conditions. The new law also requires car rental companies to notify customers of between Sept. 1 and May 31.

The new law goes into effect in August.

“We are committed to ensuring that all drivers are safer while traveling on our roads,” Polis said in a statement. “Traveling the iconic Rocky Mountains requires responsibility from all drivers, and that our vehicles are prepared for the mountain weather. This bill will help make it easier for drivers to follow our chain laws and keep each other and our roads safe.”

The bill passed with bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate. The sponsors all represent the mountains or communities on the Western Slope: Sens. Marc Catlin, a Montrose Republican; and Dylan Roberts, a Frisco Democrat; and Democratic Reps. Meghan Lukens of Steamboat Springs and Elizabeth Velasco of Glenwood Springs.

In a news release after the signing, Lukens noted the mountain communities often see visitors who have little experience driving in winter conditions or with traction devices. Spinouts and crashes can shut down Interstate 70 and other roads for hours, as well as result in life-altering injuries.

“Glenwood Canyon has the most accidents and road closures along I-70 nationally, which is why we need this law to protect Colorado drivers,” Velasco said in the release. “Keeping Western Slope roads open and safe is a priority in my district to ensure that residents, tourists and long-haul truckers can get where they need to go quickly and safely.”

The state Department of Transportation will oversee the program and can charge a fee for the permits. The installation permits will be valid only for areas specified on the permits.