Aspen Council Holds 50 Acre-Feet for Local Drought Response

Aspen —The clock ticks toward midnight on a Tuesday in late September, and in the quiet of the Aspen City Council chambers, a single document sits on the table. It’s thin, barely three pages, but it carries the weight of a dry summer and a thirsty valley.

The question on every neighbor’s mind is simple: If Aspen is giving away water to help the rest of the Western Slope, what’s left in the tank for us?

The answer, according to an update submitted to the council this week, is 50 acre-feet.

That’s a small number next to the 400-acre-foot contract allocation the city holds annually from Ruedi Reservoir through the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. But in a year where the snowpack didn’t show up on schedule and the streams ran low by July, every drop counts. The city is planning to make up to 350 acre-feet of that allocation available for regional drought response efforts. The remaining 50 acre-feet stays home.

Staff determined that this split wouldn’t impact the city’s ability to meet its own obligations. Specifically, that retained water is earmarked for augmentation and exchange operations through the rest of the 2026 drought year and into the spring of 2027.

And that matters because those operations keep the lights on — literally. The Historic User Pool program, which Aspen’s municipal water system benefits from, relies on consistent supplies. By keeping a portion of the contract water in-house, the city ensures that domestic users aren’t left scrambling when the regional taps get turned.

The update notes that this partnership helps protect the reliability of water supplies relied upon by Aspen and other communities during a critically dry year. It’s a delicate balance: give enough to keep the basin healthy, but hold back enough to keep the taps running.

City staff view this as responsible management of the water portfolio. It strengthens relationships with the Colorado River Water Conservation District, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Division of Water Resources. The Emergency Substitute Water Supply Plan, approved by the Division of Water Resources on Sept. 1, is now being executed. Release scheduling and accounting are underway.

So, what’s left in the tank? Fifty acre-feet. It’s not a fortune, but it’s a lifeline. In a valley that has forgotten what rain feels like, it’s the difference between a full glass and a cracked one.

Outside the council chambers, the wind picks up, rattling the windows. The Roaring Fork River below runs low, brown, and sluggish. But in the reservoir behind the dam, the water level holds steady. For now, it’s enough.