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Ruedi water authority’s new director urges Carbondale to back a June water‑conservation campaign and prepare contracted water for summer releases
Summary
Paula Step, new executive director of the Ruedi Water and Power Authority, told trustees the authority is launching a valleywide water‑saving campaign in June and may ask municipalities holding contracted water — including Carbondale — to make supplies available later in the summer if Colorado River District releases are needed to cool the Roaring Fork River for fish.
Paula Step, the newly installed executive director of the Ruedi Water and Power Authority, told the Board of Trustees that the authority is launching a valleywide water‑conservation campaign this June and asked Carbondale to be prepared to discuss use of any contracted water it holds if emergency releases are needed later in the summer.
Step said the campaign’s message — which will include radio spots and paid outreach — is straightforward: “If we save water now, we're saving it, for the health of our river, and the opportunity is here now for us to all participate together,” she told trustees. She said the outreach will target residents, HOAs and part‑time property owners and include a fact sheet explaining why the ask matters.
Step also outlined how Ruedi reservoir allocations are managed, saying the authority generally divides water among recreation, endangered‑fish flows and contracted water that municipalities purchase. She said some municipal contract purchases have been in the range of roughly 500 acre‑feet and that those holdings typically carry year‑to‑year under Bureau of Reclamation contracts. “I think it's 500 acre feet,” she said when asked about a typical town allotment.
On timing, Step said the Colorado River District has about 15,000 acre‑feet available for coordinated releases — “10,000 plus is from Ruedi” — and that releases could occur in late June or July depending on reservoir levels and downstream needs. She asked trustees to expect follow‑up conversations this summer and said the authority would coordinate with the town and the River District before formal requests.
Trustees asked procedural questions about how fast decisions would be needed and whether staff would require preauthorization to act if emergency cooling releases were required. Step said planning often aims for decisions by June 1 to give the Bureau of Reclamation and operators time to schedule releases, but that the precise window can shift and she would keep local staff informed.
Next steps: staff said they will track Ruedi and Colorado River District timing and return to the trustees in June or July if the authority needs Carbondale to consider donating or otherwise making contracted water available for river‑cooling efforts. No formal request or vote was made at the meeting.
