News

• Ranching In A Drying West
• Cat Movie Fisher with Risho Unda
• The Listening Club Gets Stranger

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Ranching In A Drying West

Water is fundamental, and in a drying West, the precious resource can affect everything.

“How does this affect the livelihood of my ag neighbors, and how does this affect the livelihood of the local store selling tubes to recreators, or the fishing guides and booking trips for the whitewater guides?” said Blake Mamich, program director at the Colorado Water Trust, a nonprofit organization working to facilitate water rights transfers to protect the environment.

Next week, the Colorado Water Trust, the San Miguel Watershed Coalition, the Colorado West Land Trust and the Telluride Foundation will join the community in Norwood for a conversation on ranching in the drying West and how agriculture and the environment can work together to protect the vital resource.

“In times of scarcity, which are sort of always as far as water quantity goes in the Southwest, but in these extreme scenarios as of late, and this year definitely, it’s important to try and understand what tools are out there to try and come up with flexible solutions to water scarcity issues,” said San Miguel Watershed Coalition Executive Director Adrian Bergere.

“Getting folks in a room together and breaking down some of the walls that might be seen as competing interests is essential to doing this kind of work,” Mamich said.

The Colorado Water Trust works with agricultural producers to use some of their water rights to keep water in rivers and streams.

Mamich said that while business and the environment might seem to have opposing priorities, most people working in agriculture are coming to the table with a conservation ethic. He said it is about finding the right project that works for everyone.

“Financially it has to make sense for them to engage with us. I’ve had a situation where a project partner just put a new center pivot in, so they were really interested in additional cash flow that year. They were a little less concerned with their hay production and a little more concerned with some money in the bank. So, it was an easy decision for them to decide to share a little water, keep a little water in the river at critical times of the year, get compensated for that, and have some cold hard cash to pay the contract on that,” Mamich said.

As groups and individuals try to triage and do what they can with limited water available, Mamich said collaboration is the only way forward.

“The only path forward is working together and creating mutually beneficial projects, and I think there’s a better understanding of doing that and collaborating and working together,” he said.

The community conversation on ranching in a drying West will take place from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 27, at the Livery in Norwood. The event is free, and dinner will be provided.

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Cat Movie Fisher with Risho Unda

Telluride High School’s Risho Unda is back with another installment of Cat Movie Fisher, a segment in which he chats with members of the community about their favorite movies.

This week, the program is rebroadcasting an interview from January 2026 with Telluride marshal and school resource officer Brunner Hill.

Story begins at 4:00.

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The Listening Club Gets Stranger

This Monday the Wilkinson Public Library holds its monthly Listening Club. It’s like a book club, but for albums.

Kevin Douglas will lead the April session with his selection, Billy Joel’s 1977 album, “The Stranger.” The Listening Club will take place on Monday, April 27, from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Telluride Music Company.

KOTO News spoke with Douglas about his choice.

Story begins at 7:45.

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A Taste of New Mexico Comes to the Wilkinson Public Library

People have been living in what is now New Mexico for thousands of years. From the mountains to the deserts, Indigenous peoples, Spanish conquistadors and Americans have brought their culture — and food — to the landscape.

That food is the focus of the documentary “Eating History: A Taste of New Mexico.”

Next week, the Wilkinson Public Library will host a screening of the documentary, highlighting the cultural influences, identity and history of New Mexican cuisine.

The screening of “Eating History: A Taste of New Mexico” will take place at the library from 1:30 to 3 p.m. Monday, April 27.

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Monsoon Forecast Could Raise Wildfire Risk in Western Colorado

Western Colorado may be in for a strong monsoon season this summer, but that could actually increase wildfire risk.

Fire managers and forecasters discussed the outlook during a wildfire preparedness meeting in Aspen last week.

Erin Walter, a hydrologist at the National Weather Service’s Grand Junction office, said the latest forecasts are predicting robust monsoon activity by July.

But she said that does not necessarily mean more moisture.

“I have concerns with any onset of a monsoon push, because we tend to have a lot of lightning with not a lot of accumulative precipitation until that moisture comes. So that could be a lot of fire starts,” Walter said.

Walter said recent rain and snow have helped, but Colorado is still experiencing a record-low year for snowpack.

Forecasters are expecting warmer-than-normal temperatures to continue into the summer.

Walter said that combination increases the potential for significant wildfires in Western Colorado.

Fire officials at the meeting said they are prepared for whatever comes this summer.

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Supreme Court to Review Colorado Preschool Program Case

The U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether Colorado’s free preschool program can exclude religious institutions because they do not admit LGBTQ-plus students.

The case was brought by St. Mary Catholic Parish in Littleton and is backed by the Archdiocese of Denver. It argues Colorado is violating Catholic schools’ religious rights by barring them from the taxpayer-funded program.

The state says religious schools can participate as long as they follow nondiscrimination laws.

Colorado’s free preschool program was created through a 2020 ballot measure.

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Bill Raises Overtime Threshold for Farm Workers

Farmworkers could lose some overtime wage protections under a bipartisan proposal headed to the governor’s desk.

The bill narrowly passed the House after hours of debate, Rae Solomon reported for The Colorado Capitol News Alliance.

Under current Colorado law, overtime for farmworkers kicks in after 48 or 56 hours, depending on the work. The bill would raise the overtime threshold to 56 hours for all agricultural workers.

Most other hourly workers earn overtime after 40 hours a week.

Many progressive Democrats, including Rep. Elizabeth Velasco, oppose the change and say agricultural workers should have the same protections as everyone else.

“A 40 hour work week was established to signal to employers that working any more than that comes at the detriment to the workers’ health and safety. And if a worker is to work over 40 hours a week, then they must be compensated fairly for the risk,” Velasco said.

Bill backers say the highly seasonal nature of agriculture justifies a higher overtime threshold.

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Scientists Track Invasive Species in Colorado River

Invasive species are on the march in the Colorado River. They threaten everything from endangered fish in Arizona to Palisade peaches in Colorado.

KUNC’s Scott Franz has more on a new tool scientists are using to locate them before it’s too late.

Story begins at 18:30.