SUMMITVILLE – Toxic mine sites can never be fully restored. In 2021, Rio Grande County and the state of Colorado will take over ownership and operation of the Summitville Mine Site, one of the worst Superfund cleanups in Colorado history. Ongoing containment operations at the site will cost Colorado $2 million annually – indefinitely. “You…
SAN LUIS VALLEY- The Medano-Zapata Ranch is bustling. Bison huddle as they wait to be led into a shoot that will allow ranchers to examine them closely. It’s the one time of year when ranchers round up their herd to pull heads for sale, administer vaccination and health checks. Bison have roamed the San Luis…
SUMMITVILLE – The Summitville mine superfund site sits high in the alpine tundra above the San Luis Valley. Blanketed in snow, the peak once swarmed by gold miners looks peaceful. A small stream cutting down the slope stains the surrounding snow a reddish orange, like a scar which never fully healed. Current plans for the…
SAN LUIS VALLEY – Hundreds of years ago before southern Colorado’s San Luis Valley was cut into farms and ranchland, bison roamed freely. Today, bison are back – brought in as part of an effort to ranch more sustainably in the drought plagued valley. “For us to go in to the future, we have to…
ALAMOSA — Renewable Water Resources, a Denver-based company, is considering a diversion of up to 22,000 acre-feet of water a year out of the San Luis valley for Front-Range municipal use, according to Cleave Simpson, general manager of Rio Grande Water Conservation District. The San Luis valley is one of the poorest and driest regions…
ALAMOSA – As the country’s second-largest potato producing region, the San Luis Valley is known for its agriculture. The growing season lasts only 90 days. Killing frosts can occur at any time. But fertile soils, low pest populations, and irrigation have made farming here worthwhile for generations. Or at least, they have until overpumping of…
ZAPATA RANCH – Sunlight shines through dusty air as ranchers gather hundreds of bison for weighing and sorting. The Zapata Ranch, a Ranchlands property located in the heart of the San Luis Valley, is merging conservation and ranching. The Nature Conservancy owns the 110,000-acre ranch and has partnered with Ranchlands to manage the land. The…
ALAMOSA – Nestled beneath snow covered mountains, this high desert basin is so dry that one resource matters above all else – water. In the San Luis Valley of south-central Colorado, life revolves around water. Agriculture is the main industry. For locals, agriculture means more than income. It is an engrained culture. They depend on…
SUMMITVILLE – The massive scar gouged into the side of a mountain on the western rim of the San Luis Valley is an environmental disaster that will cost Colorado taxpayers $2 million a year indefinitely. In the 1980s, a subsidiary of Galactic Resources Ltd., Summitville Consolidated Mining Company, Inc. established a massive open-pit gold…
ALAMOSA, CO — In Colorado’s San Luis Valley, water is becoming more and more valuable. Surface water is drying up and groundwater is steadily increasing in price. The valleys main use is farming, requiring complex irrigation systems to carry water over long distances. Many of the crops grown here are water intensive. “Without agriculture, the…
