Big Pivots: Managing scarcity

[Margaret Bowes]

Hello CAST Members,

 

It has been a while since I’ve shared an issue of Big Pivots, and the most recent issue is below. 

 

To catch up on past Big Pivot stories focused on energy, water and climate, visit https://bigpivots.com/

Best,

Margaret Bowes, Executive Director
Colorado Association of Ski Towns
PO Box 3823
Dillon CO 80435
970-389-4347

mbo...@coskitowns.com
www.coskitowns.com

 

 

 

From: Big Pivots <al...@bigpivots.com>
Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2025 7:10 AM
To: mbo...@coskitowns.com
Subject: Managing scarcity with grace and intelligence

 

James Eklund on the Colorado River Today is the long-awaited day, the day when the seven basin states are supposed to report to the federal government what agreement they have reached.  James Eklund, a former director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board who is now in private practice, attended a session in Arizona last week. Seeing what he wrote on LinkedIn, we reached out to him to see if he might be willing to share his thoughts — writing them himself, if he so wished. He agreed. The result is even better than what we might have hoped for. One small part: "This isn’t a failure of hydrology; it’s a failure of adaptation. The West has always been proud of its self-reliance, but we’re behaving like a bureaucracy waiting for someone else to make the hard call. We need leaders, not hall monitors." Read more here.   A recall in Montrose County A sitting Montrose County commissioner was recalled by voters there last week, leaving the county's board in coming weeks with two commissioners who are unaffiliated and one who is adamant about this being part of the "blueprint" conspiracy. What does this mean for the solar regulations? Just a guess that this will result in more moderate regulations than the previous majority had wanted. For more on the Montrose County drama, READ HERE.   More thoughts coming about Pueblo We reported shortly after 3 p.m. yesterday about the request by Xcel, with the backing of the Polis administration, to continue operation of Comanche 2, which has one of the smokestacks in the above photo, to continue operating through December 2026. It had been scheduled since 2018 to close this December. The delayed retirement of Comanche 2 is provoked, at least in large part, by Comanche 3 going down yet again. It ceased functioning in August and at this time is not scheduled to resume operations until next June. But keep in mind that when it went down in 2020, Comanche 3 ended up being off-line for more than a year, longer than originally expected. Comanche 2 has had no parallel problems. That unit is 35 years older than Comanche 3. Lots to chew over here — and we have had conversations with state officials and have received thoughts of most of the environmental groups. But we are immersed in a previously scheduled water conference. Instead, look for something in days ahead.   Big Pivots 5705 Yukon St, Arvada CO 80002 United States of America Big Pivots®, a Colorado-based non-profit, aims to document, understand, and educate about the changes made necessary by climate change. Those changes include the energy, water, and other areas of urgent attention in the 21st century and beyond. Unsubscribe