Is SaveThePoudre.org a lost cause?

I am reminded by Laura Butler that SaveThePoudre.org reciently had a meeting at River Rock Cohousing. My question is simply “Is it a lost cause?”

Seems that few Coloradoans have read the Colorado College State of the Rockies Climate Change Report. Those who have, realize that even under good conditions we are likely to see an April 1^st snow pack decrease of 50% in the next 75 years. The good news is that overall precipitation should be about the same. Simply said this means that there will be more rain and less snow. The climate change trend is for more precipitation in the fall and less in the spring. So overall you can expect more runoff in the fall when the growing season has ended and more drought in the spring supported by poor snow pack.

The question now becomes how to create a strategy to maintain water supplies moving towards the future. Colorado already has a problem with population growth. It will become even more difficult to meet this growth as supplies in spring and summer start to shrink. It is clear that the goal of conservation that has been promoted by SaveThePoudre.org and the Western Resource Advocates must be embraced! At the same time, it would be prudent to start planning for the future.

I suspect that part of the future of Colorado living through climate change will be the construction of new dams. The planning for these projects must be thought out carefully. Commissioning a new dam causes a loss of interest in conservation programs. At the same time with the near arrival of peak oil as well as expected future carbon taxes, the construction of dams will likely increase sharply in the next 25 years. From a financial situation, sooner is better. I support the guidelines the Western Resource Advocates have laid out for such a projects in the future.

I encourage everyone to read the Colorado College State of the Rockies Climate Change Report. It highlights the fact that almost all other environmental efforts are deeply impacted by this one major environmental crisis.

Feel free to leave your comments and feedback.